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©RIGHAM  YOUNG  UNIVERSITY 

PBOVO,  UTAH 


MAR  o  /  1890 


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in  2011  with  funding  from 
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10 


JANE   AUSTEN   AND    HER   TIMES 


BY   THE   SAME   AUTHOR 

A  Bachelor  Girl  in  London 

The  Gifts  of  Enemies 

The  Children's  Book  of  London 


MORNING    EMPLOYMENTS 


JANE  AUSTEN 
AND    HER   TIMES 


BY 


G.   E.  MITTON 


WITH  TWENTY-ONE   ILLUSTRATIONS 


/ 


METHUEN    &    CO. 

36    ESSEX    STREET    W.C. 

/LONDON  *" 


First  Published  in  igos 


BRIGHAM  YOUNG  UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY 

PROVO.  UTAH 


CONTENTS 


CHAP* 

I.   PRELIMINARY  AND   DISCURSIVE  . 
.^  i^  CHILDHOOD 

III.  THE  POSITION   OF  THE  CLERGY 
iflS-  IV.   HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON 
V.  THE  NOVELS 
VI.   LETTERS   AND   POST 
'^^  VII.   SOCIETY  AND   LOVE-MAKING 

VIII.  VISITS  AND  TRAVELLING 
"^•1%  CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 
X.  A  TRIO  OF   NOVELS 
XI.   THE   NAVY 
XII.   BATH  .  .  .  • 

i<    XIII.  DRESS   AND   FASHIONS 
XIV.   AT   SOUTHAMPTON 
XV.   CHAWTON    .  .  .  • 

XVI.   IN  LONDON 
XVII.   FANNY  AND  ANNA 
XVIII.   THE  PRINCE  REGENT  AND  £MMA 
.^XIX.  LAST  DAYS 

INDEX  .  .  .  • 


PAGE 
I 

22 

34 

49 
8o  V^ 

105     / 

117  J^ 

148 
161 
176 
196 
212 
229 
249 
266 
278 
296 

303 
313  . 
327 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


MORNING  EMPLOYMENTS     . 

From  a  Painting  by  Bunbury. 

THE   REV.   GEORGE  AUSTEN 
From  a  Family  Miniature. 

THE  REV.  JAMES  AUSTEN   . 
From  a  Family  Miniature. 

JUVENILE   RETIREMENT 

From  a  Painting  by  John  Hoppner. 

THE  VICAR  RECEIVING   HIS  TITHES 

From  a  Drawing  by  H.  Singleton. 

JANE  AUSTEN  .... 

From  a  Portrait  by  her  Sister  CASSANDRA. 

THE  HAPPY  COTTAGERS       . 

From  a  Painting  by  George  Morland. 

MISS  BURNEY  (MADAME  d'ARBLAY) 

From  a  Portrait  by  Edward  Burney. 

FROM  A  SUMMER'S   EVENING 

From  a  Drawing  by  DE  Loutherbourg. 


TRAVELLERS  ARRIVING  AT  EAGLE  TAVERN,  STRAND    „ 
From  an  Old  Engraving. 

DOMESTIC  HAPPINESS  .  •  •  •  » 

From  a  Painting  by  GEORGE  Morland. 

COWPER  ....••» 

From    a    Painting    by    George    Romney,    in    the 
possession  of  B.  Vaughan  Johnson,  Esq. 

vii 


Frontispiece 
Facing  page  i6 

26 

»        »        42 

„        „         58 

74 

»  156 

»  159 

„  170 

»  192 


viii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

VICTORY  OF  LORD  DUNCAN  (camperdown),  1 797  Facing  page  208 
From  a  Painting  by  J.  S.  Copley. 

facade  of  the  pump   room,  bath,  in  the 

eighteenth  century  .  .  .         „       „      220 

From  a  Contemporary  Engraving. 

DRESSING  TO   GO  OUT  .  .  .  .  „  „        230 

From  a  Drawing  by  P.  W.  Tomkins. 

INIGO  JONES,  HON.  H.  FANE,  AND  C.  BLAIR  .  „  „        246 

From  a  Painting  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 

A   PLATE   FROM   THE   GALLERY   OF   FASHION  .  „  „         260 

CHARING  CROSS,   1795  •  •  •  •  »>  »        285 

From  an  Engraving  in  the  Crace  Collection. 

THE   LITTLE   THEATRE,  HAYMARKET  .  •  ,5  „        29I 

From  an  Engraving  by  Wilkinson  in  Londina 
Illustrata. 

THE  REV.  GEORGE  CRABBE  .  .  .  „  „        293 

From  a  Drawing  by  Sir  F.  Chantrey,  in  the 
National  Portrait  Gallery. 

THE  GARDEN  OF  CARLTON   HOUSE  .  .  „  „        304 

From  a  Painting  by  Bun  bury. 


JANE   AUSTEN   AND   HER 
TIMES 

CHAPTER   I 
PRELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE 

OF  Jane  Austen's  life  there  is  little  to  tell,  and  that 
little  has  been  told  more  than  once  by  writers 
whose  relationship  to  her  made  them  competent  to  do 
so.  It  is  impossible  to  make  even  microscopic  additions 
to  the  sum-total  of  the  facts  already  known  of  that  simple 
biography,  and  if  by  chance  a  few  more  original  letters 
were  discovered  they  could  hardly  alter  the  case,  for  in 
truth  of  her  it  may  be  said,  "  Story  there  is  none  to  tell, 
sir."  To  the  very  pertinent  question  which  naturally 
follows,  reply  may  thus  be  given.  Jane  Austen  stands 
absolutely  alone,  unapproached,  in  a  quality  in  which 
women  are  usually  supposed  to  be  deficient,  a  humorous 
and  brilliant  insight  into  the  foibles  of  human  nature, 
and  a  strong  sense  of  the  ludicrous.  As  a  writer  in  The 
Times  (November  25,  1904)  neatly  puts  it,  "  Of  its  kind 
the  comedy  of  Jane  Austen  is  incomparable.  It  is  utterly 
merciless.  Prancing  victims  of  their  illusions,  her  men 
and  women  are  utterly  bare  to  our  understanding,  and 
their  gyrations  are  irresistibly  comic."  Therefore  as  a 
personality,  as  a  central  figure,  too  much  cannot  be  written 
I 


2  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

about  her,  and  however  much  is  said  or  written  the 
mystery  of  her  genius  will  still  always  baffle  conjecture, 
always  lure  men  on  to  fresh  attempts  to  analyse  and 
understand  her. 

The  data  of  Jane  Austen's  life  have  been  repeated 
several  times,  as  has  been  said,  but  beyond  a  few 
trifling  allusions  to  her  times  no  writer  has  thought  it 
necessary  to  show  up  the  background  against  which  her 
figure  may  be  seen,  or  to  sketch  from  contemporary 
records  the  environment  amid  which  she  developed. 
Yet  surely  she  is  even  more  wonderful  as  a  product  of 
her  times  than  considered  as  an  isolated  figure ;  there- 
fore the  object  of  this  book  is  to  show  her  among  the 
scenes  wherein  she  moved,  to  sketch  the  men  and  women 
to  whom  she  was  accustomed,  the  habits  and  manners  of 
her  class,  and  the  England  with  which  she  was  familiar. 
Her  life  was  not  long,  lasting  only  from  1775  to  i  8  1 7,  but 
it  covered  notable  times,  and  with  such  an  epoch  for 
presentation,  with  such  a  central  figure  to  link  together 
the  sequence  of  events,  we  have  a  theme  as  inspiring  as 
could  well  be  found. 

In  many  ways  the  times  of  Jane  Austen  are  more 
removed  from  our  own  than  the  mere  lapse  of  years  seems 
to  warrant.  The  extraordinary  outburst  of  invention  and 
improvement  which  took  place  in  the  reign  of  Queen 
Victoria,  lifted  manners  and  customs  in  advance  of  what 
two  centuries  of  ordinary  routine  would  have  done.  Sir 
Walter  Besant  in  his  London  in  the  Eighteenth  Century 
says,  "  The  passing  of  the  Reform  Bill  in  1832,  the  intro- 
duction of  steamers  on  the  sea,  the  beginning  of  railways 
on  land,  make  so  vast  a  break  betv/een  the  first  third 
and  last  two-thirds  of  the  nineteenth  century,  that  I  feel 
justified  in  considering  the  eighteenth  century  as  lasting 
down  to  the  year  1837;  in  other  words,  there  were  so 
few  changes,  and  these  so  slight,  in  manners,  customs,  or 


PRELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE  3 

prevalent  ideas,  between  1700  and  1837,  that  we  may 
consider  the  eighteenth  century  as  continuing  down  to 
the  beginning  of  the  Victorian  era,  when  change  after 
change — change  in  the  constitution,  change  in  communi- 
cations, change  in  the  growth  and  extension  of  trade, 
change  in  reHgious  thought,  change  in  social  standards — 
introduced  that  new  time  which  we  call  the  nineteenth 
century." 

According  to  this  reckoning,  Jane  Austen  may  be 
counted  as  wholly  an  eighteenth-century  product,  and 
such  a  view  is  fully  justified,  for  the  differences  between 
her  time  and  ours  were  enormous.  It  is  impossible 
to  summarise  in  a  few  sentences  changes  which  are 
essentially  a  matter  of  detail,  but  in  the  gradual  unfold- 
ing of  her  life  I  shall  attempt  to  show  how  radically 
different  were  her  surroundings  from  anything  to  which 
we  are  accustomed. 

It  is  an  endless  puzzle  why,  when  her  books  so  faith- 
fully represent  the  society  and  manners  of  a  time  so 
unlike  our  own,  they  seem  so  natural  to  us.  If  you  tell 
any  half-dozen  people,  who  have  not  made  a  special 
study  of  the  subject,  at  what  date  these  novels  were 
written,  you  will  find  that  they  are  all  surprised  to  hear 
how  many  generations  ago  Jane  Austen  lived,  and  that 
they  have  always  vaguely  imagined  her  to  be  very  little 
earlier  than,  if  not  contemporary  with,  Charlotte  Bronte 
or  George  Eliot.  So  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  writer  on 
Jane  Austen  has  ever  touched  on  this  problem  before. 
Her  stories  are  as  fresh  and  real  as  the  day  they  were 
written,  her  characters  migHt"be  introduced  to  us  in 
the  flesh  any  time,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  certain 
quaintness  of  eighteenth  -  century  flavouring,  there  is 
nothing  to  bring  before  us  the  striking  difference  be- 
tween their  environment  and  our  own.  It  is  true  that 
the   long    coach    journeys   stand    out    as    an    exception 


4  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

to  this,  but  they  are  the  only  marked  exception.  If 
we  had  never  had  an  illustrated  edition  of  Jane  Austen, 
nine  people  out  of  ten  at  least  would  have  formed 
mental  pictures  of  the  characters  dressed  in  early 
Victorian,  or  perhaps  even  in  present-day,  costume.  It 
is  only  since  Hugh  Thompson  and  C.  E.  Brock  have 
put  before  us  the  costumes  of  the  age,  that  our  ideas 
have  accommodated  themselves,  and  we  realise  how 
Catherine  Morland  and  Isabella  Thorpe  looked  in  their 
high-waisted  plain  gowns,  when  they  had  arrived  at  that 
stage  of  intimacy  which  enabled  them  to  pin  "  up  each 
other's  trains  for  the  dance."  Or  how  attractive  Fanny 
Price  was  in  her  odd  high-crowned  hat,  with  its  nodding 
plume,  and  the  open-necked  short-sleeved  dress,  as  she 
surveyed  herself  in  the  glass  while  Miss  Crawford  snapped 
the  chain  round  her  neck.  The  knee-breeches  of  the 
men,  their  slippers  and  cravats,  the  neat,  close-fitting 
clerical  garb,  these  things  we  owe  to  the  artists, — they 
are  taken  for  granted  in  the  text.  It  would  have  seemed 
as  ridiculous  to  Jane  Austen  to  describe  them,  as  for  a 
present-day  novelist  to  mention  that  a  London  man 
made  a  call  in  a  frock-coat  and  top-hat. 

Yet  her  word-pictures  are  living  and  detailed,  filled 
in  with  innumerable  little  touches.  How  can  we  recon- 
cile the  seeming  inconsistency  ?  The  explanation  prob- 
ably is,  that  without  acting  consciously,  she,  with  the 
unerring  touch  of  real  genius,  chose  that  which  was 
lasting,  and  of  interest  for  all  time,  from  that  which  was 
ephemeral.  In  her  sketches  of  human  nature,  in  the 
strokes  with  which  she  describes  character,  no  line  is  too 
fine  or  too  delicate  for  her  attention  ;  but  in  the  case  of 
manners  and  customs  she  gives  just  the  broad  outlines 
that  serve  as  a  setting.  Her  novels  are  novels  of 
character. 

But  the  problem  is  not  confined  to  the  books ;  in  her 


PRELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE  5 

letters  to  her  sister,  though  there  is  abundant  comment 
on  dress,  food,  and  minor  details  which  should  mark  the 
epoch,  yet  the  letters  might  have  been  written  yesterday. 
Austin  Dobson  in  one  of  his  admirable  prefaces  to  the 
novels  says :  "  Going  over  her  pages,  pencil  in  hand, 
the  antiquarian  annotator  is  struck  by  their  excessive 
modernity,  and  after  a  prolonged  examination  discovers, 
in  this  century-old  record,  nothing  more  fitted  for  the 
exercise  of  his  ingenuity  that  such  an  obsolete  game  at 
cards  as  '  Casino  '  or  '  quadrille.'  " 

And  this  is  true  also  of  her  letters.  More  remark- 
able still  is  the  entire  absence  of  comment  on  the  great 
events  which  thrilled  the  world  ;  with  the  exception  of 
an  allusion  to  the  death  of  Sir  John  Moore,  we  hear  no 
whisper  of  the  wars  and  upheavals  which  happened  during 
her  life.  It  is  true  that  the  Revolution  in  France,  which 
shook  monarchs  on  their  thrones,  occurred  before  the  first 
date  of  the  published  letters,  yet  her  correspondence  covers 
a  time  when  battles  at  sea  were  chronicled  almost  con- 
tinuously, when  an  invasion  by  France  was  an  ever- 
present  terror ;  Trafalgar  and  Waterloo  were  not  history, 
but  contemporary  events  ;  but  though  Jane  must  have 
heard  and  discussed  these  matters,  no  echo  finds  its  way 
into  her  lively  and  amusing  budgets  of  chit-chat  to  her 
sister.  Of  course  women  were  not  supposed  to  read  the 
papers  in  those  days,  but  with  two  sailor  brothers  the 
news  must  have  often  been  personal  and  intimate,  and 
she  was,  according  to  the  notions  of  her  time,  well 
educated  ;  yet  we  search  in  vain  for  any  allusion  to  such 
contemporary  matters.  It  may  be  objected  that  the 
letters  of  a  modern  girl  to  a  sister  would  hardly  touch 
on  questions  which  agitate  the  public,  but  there  are 
several  replies  to  this  :  in  the  first  place,  few  such  exciting 
events  have  occurred  in  recent  times  as  happened  during 
Jane  Austen's  life :  our  war  in   Africa  was  a  mere  trifle 


6  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

in  comparison  with  the  bloody  field  of  Waterloo,  where 
Blucher  and  Wellington  lost  30,000  men,  or  the 
thrilling  naval  victory  of  Trafalgar ;  and  stupendous  as 
have  been  the  recent  battles  between  Russia  and  Japan, 
they  affect  us  only  indirectly — England  is  not  herself 
involved  in  them,  nor  are  her  sons  being  slain  daily. 
In  the  second  place,  surely  even  the  South  African  War 
would  probably  produce  some  comment  in  letters, 
especially  if  the  writer  had  brothers  in  the  army  as  Jane 
had  brothers  in  the  navy.  Thirdly,  letters  in  Jane 
Austen's  time  were  one  great  means  of  news,  for  news- 
papers were  not  so  easy  to  get,  and  were  much  more 
costly  than  now,  so  that  we  expect  to  find  more  of  con- 
temporary events  in  letters  than  at  a  time  like  the 
present,  when  telegrams  and  columns  of  print  save  us  the 
trouble  of  recording  such  matters  in  private. 

In  the  forty-two  years  between  1775  and  1 8 17, 
vast  discoveries  of  world-wide  importance  were  made. 
When  Jane  Austen  was  born.  Captain  Cook  was  still 
in  the  midst  of  his  exploration,  and  the  map  of  the 
world  was  being  unrolled  day  by  day.  Though  New 
Zealand  and  Australia  had  been  discovered  by  the 
Dutch  in  the  previous  century,  they  were  all  but 
unknown  to  England.  Six  years  only  before  her  birth 
had  the  great  navigator  charted  and  mapped  New 
Zealand  for  the  first  time,  also  the  east  coast  of 
Australia,  and  had  christened  New  South  Wales. 
When  she  was  four  years  old.  Cook  was  murdered  by 
the  natives  at   Hawaii. 

The  atlas  from  which  she  learnt  her  earliest 
geography  lessons  was  therefore  very  different  from 
those  now  in  use.  The  well-known  cartographer,  S. 
Dunn,  published  an  atlas  in  1774,  where  Australia  is 
marked  certainly,  but  as  though  one  saw  it  through 
distorted   glasses ;    the   east   coast,   Cook's   discovery,   is 


PRELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE  7 

clearly  defined,  the  rest  is  very  vague ;  and  the  fact 
that  Tasmania  was  an  island  had  not  then  been  dis- 
covered, for  it  appears  as  a  projecting  headland.  In 
the  same  general  way  is  New  Zealand  treated,  and 
neither  has  a  separate  sheet  to  itself;  beyond  their 
appearance  on  the  map  of  the  world,  they  are  ignored. 
Japan  also  looks  queer  to  modern  eyes,  it  almost 
touches  China  at  both  ends,  enclosing  a  land-locked   sea. 

The  epoch  was  one  of  change  and  enlargement  irf^ 
other  than  geographical  directions.  In  the  thirty  years  J 
before  Jane  Austen's  birth  an  immense  improvement 
had  taken  place  in  the  position  of  women.  Mrs. 
Montagu,  in  1750,  had  made  bold  strokes  for  the 
freedom  and  recognition  of  her  sex.  The  epithet 
*'  blue-stocking,"  which  has  survived  with  such  extra- 
ordinary tenacity,  was  at  first  given,  not  to  the  clever 
women  who  attended  Mrs.  Montagu's  informal  recep- 
tions, but  to  her  men  friends,  who  were  allowed  to 
come  in  the  grey  or  blue  worsted  stockings  of  daily 
life,  instead  of  the  black  silk  considered  de  rigueur  for 
parties.  Up  to  this  time,  personal  appearance  and 
cards  had  been  the  sole  resources  for  a  leisured  dame 
of  the  upper  classes,  and  the  language  of  gallantry 
was  the  only  one  considered  fitting  for  her  to  hear. 
By  Mrs.  Montagu's  efforts  it  was  gradually  recognised 
that  a  woman  might  not  only  have  sense  herself,  but 
might  prefer  it  should  be  spoken  to  her ;  and  that 
because  the  minds  of  women  had  long  been  left 
uncultivated  they  were  not  on  that  account  unworthy 
of  cultivation.  Hannah  More  describes  Mrs.  Montagu 
as  "  not  only  the  finest  genius,  but  the  finest  lady  I 
ever  saw  .  .  .  her  form  (for  she  has  no  body)  is  delicate 
even  to  fragility ;  her  countenance  the  most  animated 
in  the  world  ;  the  sprightly  vivacity  of  fifteen,  with  the 
judgment  and  experience  of  a  Nestor." 


8  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

In  art  there  had  never  before  been  seen  in  England 
such  a  trio  of  masters  as  Reynolds,  Gainsborough,  and 
Romney.  Isolated  portrait  painters  of  brilliant  genius, 
though  not  always  native  born,  there  had  been  in 
England,  —  Holbein,  Vandyke,  Lely,  Kneller,  and 
Hogarth  are  all  in  the  first  rank, — but  that  three 
such  men  as  the  trio  above  should  flourish  con- 
temporaneously was  little  short  of  miraculous. 

In  1775,  Sir  Joshua  had  passed  the  zenith  of  his 
fame,  though  he  lived  until  1792.  Gainsborough,  who 
was  established  in  a  studio  in  Schomberg  House,  Pall 
Mall,  was  in  1775  ^^  ^^^  beginning  of  his  most  suc- 
cessful years ;  his  rooms  were  crowded  with  sitters  of 
both  sexes,  and  no  one  considered  they  had  proved 
their  position  in  society  until  they  had  received  the 
hall-mark  of  being  painted  by  him.  He  was  only 
sixty-one  at  his  death  in  1788.  Romney,  who  lived 
to  1802,  never  took  quite  the  same  rank  as  the  other 
two,  yet  he  was  popular  enough  at  the  same  time  as 
Gainsborough ;  Lady  Newdigate  {The  Cheverels  of 
Cheverel  Manor)  mentions  going  to  have  her  portrait 
painted  by  him,  and  says  that  "  he  insists  upon  my 
having  a  rich  white  satin  with  a  long  train  made  by 
Tuesday,  and  to  have  it  left  with  him  all  the  summer. 
It  is  the  oddest  thing  I  ever  knew."  Sir  Thomas 
Lawrence  and  Hoppner  carried  on  the  traditions  of 
the  portrait  painters,  the  former  living  to  1830;  with 
names  such  as  these  it  is  easy  to  judge  art  was  in  a 
flourishing  condition. 

Among  contemporary  landscape  painters,  Richard 
Wilson,  who  has  been  called  "  the  founder  of  English 
Landscape,"  lived  until  1782.  But  his  views,  though 
vastly  more  natural  than  the  stilted  conventional  style 
that  preceded  them,  seem  to  our  modern  eyes,  trained 
to    what   is    "  natural,"    still    to    be    too    much    conven- 


PRELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE  9 

tionalised.  Among  others  the  names  of  Gillray, 
Morland,  Rowlandson  stand  out,  all  well  on  the  way 
to  fame  while  Jane  was  still  a  child. 

These  preliminary  remarks  have  been  made  with  a 
view  to  giving  some  general  idea  of  that  England  into 
which  she  was  born,  and  they  refer  to  those  subjects 
which  only  affected  her  indirectly.  All  those  things 
which  entered  directly  into  her  life,  such  as  her  country 
surroundings,  contemporary  books,  prices  of  food,  fashions, 
and  a  host  of  minor  details,  are  dealt  with  more  par- 
ticularly in  the  course  of  the  narrative. 

As  we  have  said,  matters  of  history  are  not  men- 
tioned or  noticed  in  Jane  Austen's  correspondence, 
which  is  taken  up  with  her  own  environment,  her 
neighbours,  their  habits  and  manners,  and  illumined 
throughout  by  a  bright  insight  at  times  rather  too 
biting  to  be  altogether  pleasant.  Of  her  immediate 
surroundings  we  have  a  very  clear  idea. 

Of  all  the  writers  of  fiction,  Jane  Austen  is  most 
thoroughly  English.  She  never  went  abroad,  and 
though  her  native  good  sense  and  shrewd  gift  of 
observation  saved  her  from  becoming  insular,  yet  she 
cannot  be  conceived  as  writing  of  any  but  the  sweet 
villages  and  the  provincial  towns  of  her  native  country. 
Even  the  Brontes,  deeply  secluded  as  their  lives  were, 
crossed  the  German  Ocean,  and  saw  something  of  Con- 
tinental life  from  their  school  at  Brussels.  Nothing  of 
this  kind  fell  to  Jane  Austen's  share.  Yet  people  did 
travel  in  those  days,  travelled  amazingly  considering  the 
difficulties  they  had  to  encounter,  among  which  were 
the  horrors  of  a  sailing-boat  with  its  uncertain  hours. 
Fielding,  in  going  to  Lisbon,  was  kept  waiting  a  month 
for  favourable  winds !  There  was  also  the  terrible 
embarking  and  landing  from  a  small  boat  before  such 
conveniences  as  landing-stages  were  built. 


10  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

In  one  of  Lord  Langdale's  letters,  dated  1803,  we 
have  a  vivid  description  of  these  horrors :  *'  We  left  that 
place  [Dover]  about  six  o'clock  last  Saturday  morning, 
and  arrived  at  Calais  at  four  in  the  afternoon.  Our 
passage  was  rather  disagreeable,  the  wind  being  chiefly 
against  us,  and  rain  sometimes  falling  in  torrents.  I 
never  witnessed  a  more  curious  scene  than  our  landing. 
When  the  packet-boat  had  come  to  within  two  miles 
of  the  coast  of  France,  we  were  met  by  some  French 
rowing  boats  in  which  we  were  to  be  conveyed  on 
shore.  The  French  sailors  surrounded  us  in  the  most 
clamorous  and  noisy  manner,  leaping  into  the  packet 
and  bawling  and  shouting  so  loud  as  to  alarm  the 
ladies  on  board  very  much.  To  these  men,  however, 
we  were  to  consign  ourselves,  and  we  entered  their 
boats,  eight  passengers  going  in  each.  When  we  got 
near  the  shore,  we  were  told  it  was  impossible  for  the 
boat  to  get  close  to  land,  on  account  of  the  tide  being 
so  low,  and  that  we  must  be  carried  on  the  men's 
shoulders.  We  had  no  time  to  reflect  on  this  plan 
before  we  saw  twelve  or  fourteen  men  running  into  the 
water, — they  surrounded  our  boat  and  laid  hold  of  it 
with  such  violence,  that  one  might  have  thought  they 
meant  to  sink  it,  and  fairly  pulled  us  into  their  arms. 
.  .  .  For  my  part  I  laughed  heartily  all  the  time,  but 
a  lady  who  was  with  us  was  so  much  frighted,  that  I 
was  obliged  to  support  her  in  my  arms  a  considerable 
time  before  she  was  able  to  stand." 

It  was  not  only  in  the  arms  of  men  that  passengers 
were  thus  carried  ashore,  in  Napoleons  British  Visitors 
and  Captives^  by  J.  G.  Alger,  there  is  a  still  more  extra- 
ordinary account  quoted  from  a  contemporary  letter. 
"  In  an  instant  the  .  boathead  was  surrounded  by  a 
throng  of  women  up  to  their  middles  and  over,  who 
were  there  to  carry  us  on  shore.     Not  being  aware  of 


MELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE  il 

this  manoeuvre,  we  did  not  throw  ourselves  into  the 
arms  of  these  sea-nymphs  so  instantly  as  we  ought, 
whereby  those  who  sat  at  the  stern  of  the  boat  were 
deluged  with  sea  spray.  For  myself,  I  was  in  front, 
and  very  quickly  understood  the  clamour  of  the  mer- 
maids. I  flung  myself  upon  Jae  backs  of  two  of  them 
without  reserve,  and  was  safely  and  dryly  borne  on 
shore,  but  one  poor  gentleman  slipped  through  their 
fingers,   and   fell   over   head   and   ears  into  the  sea." 

From  the  same  entertaining  book  we  learn  that, 
"  For  £4,  13s.  you  could  get  a  through  ticket  by  Dover 
and  Calais,  starting  either  from  the  City  at  4.30  a.m. 
by  the  old  and  now  revived  line  of  coaches  connected 
with  the  rue  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires  establishment  in 
Paris,  or  morning  and  night  by  a  new  line  from  Charing 
Cross.  Probably  a  still  cheaper  route,  though  there 
were  no  through  tickets,  was  by  Brighton  and  Dieppe, 
the  crossing  taking  ten  or  fifteen  hours.  By  Calais  it 
seldom  took  more  than  eight  hours,  but  passengers  were 
advised  to  carry  light  refreshments  with  them.  The 
diligence  from  Calais  to  Paris,  going  only  four  miles  an 
hour,  took  fifty-four  hours  for  the  journey,  but  a  hand- 
some carriage  drawn  by  three  horses,  in  a  style  somewhat 
similar  to  the  English  post-chaise,  could  be  hired  by 
four  or  five  fellow-travellers,  and  this  made  six  miles 
an  hour." 

During  a  great  part  of  Jane  Austen's  life,  much 
of  the  Continent  was  closed  to  English  people  because 
of  the  perpetual  state  of  war  between  us  and  either 
Spain  or  France,  but  in  any  case  such  an  expedition 
would  seem  to  have  lain  quite  outside  her  limited  daily 
round,  and  was  never  even  mooted. 

Steventon  Rectory,  where  she  was  born  on  December 
16,  1775,  has  long  ago  vanished,  and  a  new  rectory, 
more    in    accordance    with    modern    luxurious    notions, 


12  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

has  been  built.  Of  the  old  house,  Lord  Brabourne, 
great-nephew  to  Jane  Austen,  writes :  "  The  house 
standing  in  the  valley  was  somewhat  better  than  the 
ordinary  parsonage  houses  of  the  day ;  the  old-fashioned 
hedgerows  were  beautiful,  and  the  country  around 
sufficiently  picturesque  for  those  who  have  the  good 
taste  to  admire  country  scenery." 

Steventon  is  a  very  small  place,  lying  in  a  network 
of  lanes  about  seven  miles  from  Basingstoke.  The 
nearest  points  on  the  high-roads  are  Deane,  on  the 
Andover  Road,  and  Popham  Lane  on  the  Winchester 
Road.  There  is  an  inn  at  the  corner  of  Popham  Lane 
to  this  day,  and  that  there  was  an  inn  there  in  Jane 
Austen's  time  we  know,  for  Mrs,  Lybbe  Powys,  writing 
in  1792,  says:  "We  stopped  at  Winchester  and  lay 
that  night  at  a  most  excellent  inn  at  Popham  Lane." 
At  this  time,  curiously  enough,  her  fellow-travellers 
were  Dr.  Cooper,  Jane  Austen's  uncle,  and  his  son  and 
daughter,  though  whether  the  party  made  a  ddtour  to 
visit  the  rectory  we  do  not  know.  Of  course  at  that 
time  Jane  was  of  no  greater  importance  than  any 
seventeen-year-old  daughter  of  a  country  clergyman, 
and  there  would  be  no  reason  to  mention  her. 

It  is  difficult  to  find  Steventon,  so  little  is  there  of 
it,  and  that  so  much  scattered  ;  a  few  cottages,  a  farm, 
and  beyond,  half  a  mile  away,  the  church,  with  a  pump 
in  a  field  near  to  mark  the  site  of  the  old  rectory  house 
where  Jane  Austen  was  born.  This  is  all  that  remains 
of  her  time.  The  new  rectory  stands  on  the  other  side 
of  the  narrow  road,  raised  above  it,  and  sheltered  by  a 
warm  backing  of  trees  in  which  evergreens  are  con- 
spicuous. A  very  substantial-looking  building  it  is,  much 
superior  to  what  was  considered  good  enough  for  a 
clergyman  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The  country 
is  well  wooded,  and  the  roads  undulating,  so  that  there 


PRELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE  13 

are  no  distant  views.  Probably  a  good  deal  of  the  plant- 
ing has  been  done  since  Jane  Austen's  time,  but  that 
there  were  trees  then  we  know  from  her  own  account,  and 
some  of  the  fine  oaks  that  still  stand  can  have  altered 
but  little  since  then.  Mr.  Austen-Leigh's  account  of 
the  house  in  which  she  was  born  is  worth  quoting — 

"North  of  the  house,  the  road  from  Deane  to 
Popham  Lane  ran  at  a  sufficient  distance  from  the 
front  to  allow  a  carriage  drive  through  turf  and  trees. 
On  the  south  side,  the  ground  rose  gently,  and  was 
occupied  by  one  of  those  old-fashioned  gardens  in  which 
vegetables  and  flowers  are  combined,  flanked  and  pro- 
tected on  the  east  by  one  of  the  thatched  mud  walls 
common  in  that  country,  and  overshadowed  by  fine 
elms.  Along  the  upper  or  southern  side  of  this  garden 
ran  a  terrace  of  the  finest  turf,  which  must  have  been 
in  the  writer's  thoughts  when  she  described  Catherine 
Morland's  childish  delight  in  'rolling  down  the  green 
slope  at  the  back  of  the  house.'" 

Though  there  is  so  little  left  to  see,  and  the  church 
has  been  "  restored,"  yet  it  is  worth  while  to  pass  through 
this  country  to  realise  the  environment  in  which  the 
authoress  spent  her  childhood.  There  are  still  left  in 
the  neighbourhood,  notably  at  North  Waltham,  some 
of  the  old  diamond-paned,  heavily  -  timbered  brick 
houses  with  thatched  roofs,  to  which  she  must  have 
been  accustomed.  The  gentle  curves  of  the  roads,  the 
oak  and  beech  and  fir  overshadowing  the  sweet  lanes, 
the  wild  clematis,  which  grows  so  abundantly  that  in 
autumn  it  looks  like  hoar-frost  covering  all  the  hedge- 
rows, these  things  were  prominent  objects  in  the  scenery 
amid  which  she  lived.  It  is  not  likely  she  looked  on 
her  surroundings  in  the  same  way  as  any  ordinarily 
educated  person  would  now  look  on  them.  Love  of 
scenery  had  not  then  been  developed.     The  artificial  and 


14  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

formal  landscape  gardening,  with  "  made  "  waterfalls,  was 
the  correct  thing  to  admire.  Genuine  nature,  much  less 
homely  nature,  was  only  then  beginning  to  be  observed. 
This  is  strange  to  us,  for,  as  Professor  Geikie  says,  "  At 
no  time  in  our  history  as  a  nation  has  the  scenery  of 
the  land  we  live  in  been  so  intelligently  appreciated  as 
it  is  to-day." 

But  Jane  was  not  in  advance  of  her  times,  and 
though  she  loved  her  trees  and  flowers,  we  find  in  her 
writings  no  reflections  of  the  scenes  amid  which  she 
daily  walked  ;  in  her  books  scenery  is  simply  ignored. 
We  know  if  it  rained,  because  that  material  fact  had 
an  influence  on  the  actions  of  her  heroines,  but  beyond 
that  there  is  little  or  nothing ;  yet  she  greatly  admired 
Cowper,  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  "  natural "  poets. 

Mr.  Austen-Leigh,  her  own  nephew,  speaks  of  the 
scenery  around  her  first  home  as  "  tame,"  and  says  that 
it  has  no  "  grand  or  extensive  views,"  though  he  admits 
it  has  its  beauties,  and  says  that  Steventon  "■  from 
the  fall  of  the  ground,  and  the  abundance  of  its 
timber,  is  certainly  one  of  the  prettiest  spots."  But  this 
quiet  prettiness,  without  the  excessive  richness  to  be 
found  in  other  south-country  villages,  is  perhaps  more 
thoroughly  characteristic  of  England  than  any  other. 

The  impressions  of  childhood  are  invariably  deep, 
and  are  cut  with  a  clearness  and  minuteness  to  which 
none  others  of  later  times  attain.  Just  as  a  child 
examines  a  picture  in  a  story-book  with  anxious  and 
searching  care,  while  an  adult  gains  only  a  general 
impression  of  the  whole,  so  a  child  knows  the  place 
where  it  has  played  in  such  detail  that  every  bough 
of  the  trees,  every  root  of  the  lilacs,  every  tiny  depression 
or  ditch  is  familiar.  And  thus  Jane  must  have  known 
the  home  at  Steventon. 

Writing  about  a  storm  in   1 800,  she  says :  "  I   was 


TRELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE  15 

just  in  time  to  see  the  last  of  our  two  highly  valued 
elms  descend  into  the  Sweep ! ! !  The  other,  which  had 
fallen,  I  suppose,  in  the  first  crash,  and  which  was  the 
nearest  to  the  pond,  taking  a  more  easterly  direction, 
sunk  amid  our  screen  of  chestnuts  and  firs,  knocking 
down  one  spruce  fir,  beating  off  the  head  of  another,  and 
stripping  the  two  corner  chestnuts  of  several  branches 
in  its  fall.  This  is  not  all.  One  large  elm  out  of  the 
two  on  the  left-hand  side  as  you  enter,  what  I  call,  the 
elm  walk,  was  likewise  blown  down ;  the  maple  bearing 
the  weathercock  was  broke  in  two,  and  what  I  regret 
more  than  all  the  rest  is  that  all  the  three  elms  which 
grew  in  Hall's  meadow,  and  gave  such  ornament  to  it, 
are  gone." 

This  bespeaks  her  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
trees,  of  which  each  one  was  a  friend. 

The  country  and  the  writer  suited  each  other  so 
wonderfully,  that  one  pauses  for  a  moment  wondering 
whether,  after  all,  environment  may  not  have  that  magic 
influence  claimed  for  it  by  some  who  hold  it  to  be 
more  powerful  than  inherited  qualities.  Influence  of 
course  it  has,  and  one  wonders  what  could  possibly  have 
been  the  result  if  two  such  natures  as  those  of  Jane 
Austen  and  Charlotte  Bronte  had  changed  places ;  if 
Jane  had  been  brought  up  amid  the  wild,  bleak  York- 
shire moors,  and  Charlotte  amid  the  pleasant  fields  of 
Hampshire.  As  it  is,  the  surroundings  of  each  intensi- 
fied dnd  developed  their  own  peculiar  genius. 

Jane  was  born  of  the  middle  class,  her  father,  George 
Austen,  being  a  clergyman  in  a  day  when  clergymen  were 
none  too  well  thought  of,  yet  taking  a  better  position 
than  most  by  reason  of  his  own  family  and  good  connec- 
tions. George  Austen  had  early  been  left  an  orphan,  and 
had  been  adopted  by  an  uncle.  He  showed  the  posses- 
sion of  brains    by  obtaining  first   a    scholarship    at  St. 


1 6  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

John's  College,  Oxford,  and  subsequently  a  fellow- 
ship. 

He  took  Orders  which,  in  the  days  when  rectories 
were  looked  upon  simply  as  "  livings,"  was  a  recognised 
mode  of  providing  for  a  young  man,  whether  he  had 
any  vocation  for  the  ministry  or  not.  But  he  seems 
to  have  fulfilled  his  duties,  or  what  were  then  considered 
sufficient  duties,  creditably  enough.  Of  George  Austen 
one  of  his  sons  wrote — 

"  He  resided  in  the  conscientious  and  unassisted 
discharge  of  his  ministerial  duties  until  he  was  turned 
of  seventy  years."  He  was  a  "  profound  scholar "  and 
had  "  exquisite  taste  in  every  species  of  literature." 

The  subject  of  the  clergy  at  that  date,  and  the 
examples  of  them  which  Jane  has  herself  given  us  in 
her  books,  is  an  interesting  one,  and  we  shall  return  to 
it.  The  rectory  of  Steventon  was  presented  to  George 
Austen  by  Mr.  Knight,  the  same  cousin  who  afterwards 
adopted  his  son  Edward  ;  and  the  rectory  of  Deane,  a 
small  place  about  a  mile  distant,  was  bought  by  an  uncle 
who  had  educated  him,  and  given  to  him.  The  villages 
were  very  small,  only  containing  about  three  hundred 
persons  altogether.  In  those  days  parish  visiting  or 
parochial  clubs  and  entertainments  were  unthought  of, 
Sunday  schools  in  their  earliest  infancy,  and  we  hear 
nothing  whatever  throughout  the  whole  of  Jane  Austen's 
correspondence  which  leads  us  to  think  that  she,  in  any 
way,  carried  out  the  duties  which  in  these  days  fall  to 
the  lot  of  every  clergyman's  daughter.  This  is  not  to 
cast  blame  upon  her,  it  only  means  that  she  was  the 
child  of  her  times ;  these  things  had  not  then  been 
organised. 

George  Austen  married  Cassandra,  youngest  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Leigh,  who  was  of  good  family, 
her  uncle  was  Dr.  Theophilus  Leigh,  Master  of  Balliol 


H 
CO 

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PRELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE  17 

College,  a  witty   and  well-known    man.     These  things 
are    not    of    importance   in    themselves,    but   they  serve 
to  show  that  the  family  from  which  Jane   sprang   was 
on    both    sides    of   some    consideration.      The    Austens 
lived  first  at  Deane,  but  moved   to   Steventon   in  1771. 
They  had  undertaken   the  charge  of   a  son   of  Warren 
Hastings,  who  died  young,  and  they  had  a  large  family 
of  their  own,  as  was  consistent  in   days  when    families 
of  ten,  eleven,  and  even  fifteen  were  no  uncommon  thing. 
There  were  five  sons  and   two  daughters   in  all,  and 
Jane  was  the  youngest  but  one.     (See  Table,  p.  326.) 
James,  the  eldest,  was  probably  too  far  removed   in   age 
from  his  younger  sister  ever  to  have  been  very  intimate 
with   her.      It    is   said    that  he  had   some   share    in    her 
reading   and   in  forming  her  taste,  but  though  she  was 
very  fond  of  him  she  never  seems,  as  was  very  natural,  to 
have  had  quite  the  same  degree  of  intimate  affection  for 
him  as  she  felt  for  those  of  her  brothers  nearer  to  her 
own  age.     James  was  twice  married,  and  his  only  daughter 
by  his  first  wife  was  Anna,  of  whom  Jane  makes  frequent 
mention  in  her  letters,  and  to  whom   some  of  the  pub- 
lished correspondence  was   addressed.      His  second   wife 
was    Mary  Lloyd,  whose  sister    Martha    was    the    very 
devoted   friend,  and  frequent  guest,  of  the   girl  Austens, 
and   who    late    in    life    married    Francis,  one    of    Jane's 
younger    brothers.      The   son   of  James   and    Mary   was 
James  Edward,  who  took  the  additional   name  of  Leigh, 
and  was  the  writer  of  the  Memoir  which  supplies  one  of 
the  only  two  sources  of  authoritative  information  about 
Jane  Austen.      He  died  in  1874. 

The  next  brother,  Edward,  as  already  stated,  was 
adopted  by  his  cousin  Mr.  Knight,  whose  name  he  took. 
He  came  into  the  fine  properties  of  Chawton  House  in 
Hampshire  and  Godmersham  in  Kent,  even  during  the 
lifetime  of  Mr.   Knight's  widow,  who  looked    on  him   as 


1 8  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMfS 

a  son  and  retired  in  his  favour.  Edward  married 
Elizabeth  Bridges,  and  had  a  family  of  eleven  children, 
of  whom  the  eldest,  Fanny  Catherine,  married  Sir 
Edward  Knatchbull,  and  their  eldest  son  was  created 
Lord  Brabourne ;  to  him  we  owe  the  Letters  which  are 
the  second  of  the  authoritative  books  on  Jane  Austen. 

Jane  Austen  was  attached  to  her  niece  Fanny 
Knight  in  a  degree  only  second  to  that  of  her  attach- 
ment to  her  own  sister  Cassandra.  Fanny's  mother, 
Mrs.  Edward  Austen  or  Knight  (for  the  change  of  name 
seems  not  to  have  taken  place  until  her  death),  died 
comparatively  young,  and  the  great  responsibility  thrown 
upon  Fanny  doubtless  made  her  seem  older,  and  more 
companionable,  than  her  years ;  of  her,  her  famous  aunt 
writes — 

"  I  found  her  in  the  summer  just  what  you  describe, 
almost  another  sister,  and  could  not  have  supposed  that 
a  niece  would  ever  have  been  so  much  to  me.  She  is 
quite  after  one's  own  heart.  Give  her  my  best  love  and 
tell  her  that  I  always  think  of  her  with  pleasure." 

The  third  Austen  brother,  Henry,  interested  himself 
much  in  his  sister's  writing,  and  saw  about  the  business 
arrangements  for  her,  when,  after  many  years,  she 
decided  to  publish  one  of  her  own  books  at  her  own 
risk.  He  was  something  of  a  rolling  stone,  filling 
various  positions  in  turn,  and  at  length  taking  Orders 
and  succeeding  his  brother  James  in  the  Steventon 
living.  During  part  of  his  life  he  lived  in  London, 
where  Jane  often  stayed  with  him.  He  married  first  his 
cousin  Eliza,  the  daughter  of  George  Austen's  sister  ;  she 
was  the  widow  of  a  Frenchman,  the  Count  de  Feuillade, 
who  had  suffered  death  by  the  guillotine.  Eliza  was 
very  popular  with  her  girl  cousins,  as  we  can  see  from 
Jane's  remarks  ;  she  died  in  1 813,  and  in  1820  Henry 
married  Eleanor,  daughter  of  Henry  Jackson.      The  two 


PRELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE  19 

youngest  brothers,  Francis  and  Charles,  came  above  and 
below  Jane,  with  about  three  years'  interval  on  either 
side.  They  both  entered  the  navy,  and  both  became 
admirals. 

Frank  rose  to  be  Senior  Admiral  of  the  Fleet,  and 
was  created  G.C.B. ;  he  lived  to  be  ninety-two.  He,  like 
another  of  his  brothers,  was  twice  married, — a  habit  that 
ran  abnormally  in  the  family, — and  his  second  wife  was 
Martha,  the  sister  of  his  brother  James's  wife,  mentioned 
above.  Charles  married  first  Fanny  Palmer,  and  was 
left  a  widower  in  1 8 1 5  with  three  small  daughters. 
He  married  secondly  her  sister  Harriet.  The  two 
Fannies,  Mrs.  Charles  Austen  and  the  eldest  daughter 
of  Edward  Knight,  sometimes  cause  a  little  confusion. 
Jane  Austen  mentions  calling  with  the  younger  Fanny 
on  the  motherless  children  of  her  brother,  one  of  whom 
was  also  Fanny,  soon  after  their  loss.  "  We  got  to 
Keppel  Street,  however,  which  was  all  I  cared  for,  and 
though  we  could  only  stay  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  Fanny's 
calling  gave  great  pleasure,  and  her  sensibility  still 
greater ;  for  she  was  very  much  affected  at  the  sight  of 
the  children.  Little  Fanny  looked  heavy.  We  saw  the 
whole  party." 

It  has  been  necessary  to  give  a  few  details  respecting 
the  brothers  who  played  so  large  a  part  in  Jane's  life, 
because  her  visits  away  from  home  were  nearly  all  to 
their  houses,  her  letters  are  full  of  allusions  to  them,  and 
the  great  family  affection  which  subsisted  between  them 
all  made  the  griefs  and  joys  of  the  others  the  greatest 
events  in  a  very  uneventful  life.  The  dearest,  however, 
of  the  whole  family  was  the  one  sister  Cassandra,  who, 
like  Jane  herself,  never  married,  which  seems  the 
stranger  when  we  consider  how  many  of  the  brothers 
married  twice.  There  was  a  sad  little  love-story  in 
Cassandra's  life.     She  was  engaged   to  a  young  clergy- 


20  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

man  who  had  promise  of  promotion  from  a  nobleman 
related  to  him.  He  accompanied  this  patron  to  the 
West  Indies  as  chaplain  to  the  regiment,  and  there  died 
of  yellow  fever.  There  is  perhaps  something  more 
pathetic  in  such  a  tale  than  in  any  other,  the  glowing 
ideal  has  not  been  smirched  by  any  touch  of  the  actual 
sordid  daily  life,  it  is  snatched  away  and  remains  an 
ideal  always,  and  the  happiness  that  might  have  been  is 
enhanced  by  romance  so  as  to  be  a  greater  depriva- 
tion than  any  loss  of  the  actual. 

The  two  sisters  were  sisters  in  reality,  sharing  the 
same  views,  the  same  friendships,  the  same  interests. 
When  away,  Jane's  letters  to  Cassandra  are  full  and 
lively,  telling  of  all  the  numberless  little  events  that 
only  a  sister  can  enjoy.  And  if  Jane's  own  estimate  is 
to  be  believed,  Cassandra's  are  to  the  full  as  vivacious. 

"  The  letter  which  I  have  this  moment  received  from 
you  has  diverted  me  beyond  moderation.  I  could  die  of 
laughter  at  it,  as  they  used  to  say  at  school.  You  are 
indeed  the  finest  comic  writer  of  the  present  age." 

Cassandra  lived  to  1845,  long  enough  to  see  that 
her  beloved  sister's  letters  would  in  all  probability  be 
published ;  she  was  of  a  reticent  nature,  with  a  strong 
dislike  to  revealing  anything  personal  or  intimate  to  the 
public,  she  therefore  went  through  all  these  neatly 
written  letters  from  Jane,  which  she  had  so  carefully 
preserved,  and  destroyed  anything  of  a  personal  nature. 
One  cannot  altogether  condemn  the  action,  greatly  as 
we  have  been  the  losers ;  the  letters  that  remain,  many 
in  number,  deal  almost  entirely  with  outside  matters, 
trivialities  of  everyday  life,  and  they  are  written  so 
brightly  that  we  can  judge  how  interesting  the  bits  of 
self  -  revelation  by  so  expressive  a  pen  would  have 
been. 

In    1869,    when     Mr.    Austen-Leigh    published    his 


PRELIMINARY  AND  DISCURSIVE  21 

Memoir,  only  one  or  two  of  Jane  Austen's  letters  were 
available  ;  but  in  1 802,  on  the  death  of  Lady  Knatchbull 
{nee  Fanny  Knight),  the  letters  above  referred  to,  which 
Cassandra  Austen  had  retained,  were  found  among  her 
belongings,  having  come  to  her  on  her  aunt's  death. 
Her  son,  created  Lord  Brabourne,  therefore  published 
these  in  two  volumes  in  1884,  and  when  quotations  and 
extracts  are  given  in  this  book  without  further  explana- 
tion, it  must  be  inferred  that  these  are  taken  from  letters 
of  Jane  to  Cassandra,  as  given  by  Lord  Brabourne. 


CHAPTER    II 
CHILDHOOD 

OF  Jane  Austen's  childhood  in  the  quiet  country 
rectory  we  know  little,  probably  because  there  is 
not  a  great  deal  to  know.  It  was  the  custom  in  those 
days  to  put  babies  out  to  nurse  in  the  village,  sometimes 
until  they  were  as  much  as  two  years  old,  a  point  often 
overlooked  when  the  mothers  of  what  is  now  extolled  as 
a  domestic  period  are  held  up  as  patterns  to  a  more 
intellectual  and  roving  generation.  Certainly  it  was  an 
easy  and  cheap  method  of  getting  rid  of  the  care  and 
trouble  involved  by  a  baby  in  the  house,  and  it  probably 
answered  well,  as  the  child  would  learn  to  do  without 
too  much  attention,  and  at  an  early  age,  faddists  not- 
withstanding, could  hardly  suffer  from  any  influence  of 
its  surroundings,  other  than  physically,  and  it  may  be 
taken  for  granted  that  the  material  necessities  were  well 
provided  and  kept  under  supervision.  Nevertheless,  a 
mother  who  adopted  this  course  at  the  present  day 
could  hardly  escape  the  epithet  of  "  heartless,"  which 
would  assuredly  be  levelled  at  her. 

In  the  time  of  Jane's  childhood  the  old  days  of  rigid 
severity  toward  children  were  past,  no  longer  were  mere 
babies  taken  to  see  executions  and  whipped  on  their 
return  to  enforce  the  example  they  had  beheld.  In  fact 
a  period  of  undue  indulgence  had  set  in  as  a  reaction, 
but  this  does    not    seem    to  have    affected  the  Austen 

22 


CHILDHOOD  23 

family,  who  were  brought  up  very  wisely,  and  perhaps 
even  a  little  more  repressively  than  would  be  the  case  in 
a  similar  household  to-day.  Jane  herself  was  evidently 
a  diffident  child. 

'She  says  of  a  little  visitor  many  years  afterwards: 
"  Our  little  visitor  has  just  left  us,  and  left  us  highly 
pleased  with  her ;  she  is  a  nice  natural  open-hearted, 
affectionate  girl,  with  all  the  ready  civility  one  sees  in 
the  best  children  in  the  present  day  ;  so  unlike  anything 
that  I  was  myself  at  her  age,  that  I  am  often  all 
astonishment  and  shame. 

"  What  is  become  of  all  the  shyness  in  the  world  ? 
Moral  as  well  as  natural  diseases  disappear  in  the  pro- 
gress of  time  and  new  ones  take  their  place.  Shyness 
and  the  sweating  sickness  have  given  way  to  confidence 
and  paralytic  complaints." 

Her  own  attitude  toward  children  is  peculiar.  Though 
on  indisputable  testimony  she  was  the  most  popular  and 
best  loved  of  aunts,  the  fact  remains  that  she  had  no 
great  insight  into  child  nature,  nor  does  she  seem  to  have 
had  any  general  love  of  children  beyond  those  who  were 
specially  connected  with  her  by  close  ties.  She  loved 
her  nieces,  but  much  more  as  they  grew  older  than  as 
children. 

Mr.  Austen-Leigh  says :  "  Aunt  Jane  was  the  delight 
of  all  her  nephews  and  nieces.  We  did  not  think  of  her 
as  being  clever,  still  less  as  being  famous  ;  but  we  valued 
her  as  one  always  kind,  sympathising,  and  amusing,"  and 
he  quotes  "  the  testimony  of  another  niece — *  Aunt 
Jane  was  the  general  favourite  with  children,  her  ways 
with  them  being  so  playful,  and  her  long  circumstantial 
stories  so  delightful.'  "  And  again,  "  Her  first  charm  to 
children  was  great  sweetness  of  manner  .  .  .  she  could 
make  everything  amusing  to  a  child." 

The  truth  probably  is  that   her  innate  kindness  of 


24  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

heart  and  unselfishness  compelled  her  to  be  as  amusing 
as  possible  when  thrown  with  little  people,  but  perhaps 
because  she  took  so  much  trouble  to  entertain  them  she 
found  children  more  tiresome  than  other  people  who 
accept  their  company  more  placidly.  However  this  may 
be,  it  is  undeniable  that  the  attitude  she  takes  toward 
children  in  her  books  is  almost  always  that  of  their 
being  tiresome,  there  never  appears  any  genuine  love 
^  for  them  or  realisation  of  pleasure  in  their  society ;  and 
she  continually  satirises  the  foolish  weakness  of  their 
doting  parents.  It  is  recorded  as  a  great  feature  in  the 
character  of  Mrs.  John  Knightley  "  that  in  spite  of  her 
maternal  solicitude  for  the  immediate  enjoyment  of  her 
little  ones,  and  for  their  having  instantly  all  the  liberty 
and  attendance,  all  the  eating  and  drinking,  and  sleeping 
and  playing,  which  they  could  possibly  wish  for,  without 
the  smallest  delay,  the  children  were  never  allowed  to  be 
long  a  disturbance  to  him  [their  grandfather]  either  in 
themselves  or  in  any  restless  attendance  on  them." 

Poor  Anne  in  Persuasion  is  tormented  by  "  the 
younger  boy,  a  remarkably  stout  forward  child  of  two 
years  old,  ...  as  his  aunt  would  not  let  him  tease  his 
sick  brother,  [he]  began  to  fasten  himself  upon  her,  in 
such  a  way,  that  busy  as  she  was  about  Charles,  she 
could  not  shake  him  off.  She  spoke  to  him,  ordered, 
entreated,  insisted  in  vain.  Once  she  did  contrive  to 
push  him  away,  but  the  boy  had  the  greater  pleasure  in 
getting  upon  her  back  again  directly." 

Perhaps  to  Anne  this  annoyance  was  a  blessing  in 
disguise,  as  it  brought  forward  the  whilom  lover  to  her 
assistance,  but  that  is  beside  the  point ! 

The  children  of  Lady  Middleton  in  Sense  and 
Sensibility  are  particularly  badly  behaved  and  odious. 

"  Fortunately  for  those  who  pay  their  court  through 
such  foibles,  a  fond  mother,  though  in  pursuit  of  praise  for 


CHILDHOOD  25 

her  children  the  most  rapacious  of  human  beings,  is 
likewise  the  most  credulous  ;  her  demands  are  exorbitant, 
but  she  will  swallow  anything,  ai-^^ha-excessive  affection 
and  endurance  of  the  Miss  Steeles  towards  her  offspring 
were  reviewed  therefore  by  Lady  Middleton  without  the 
smallest  surprise  or  distrust.  She  saw  with  maternal 
complacency  all  the  impertinent  encroachments  and 
mischievous  tricks  to  which  her  cousins  submitted.  She 
saw  their  sashes  untied,  their  hair  pulled  about  their 
ears,  their  workbags  searched  and  their  knives  and 
scissors  stolen  away,  and  felt  no  doubt  of  its  being  a 
reciprocal  enjoyment. 

"  *  John  is  in  such  spirits  to-day ! '  said  she,  on  his 
taking  Miss  Steele's  pocket-handkerchief  and  throwing 
it  out  of  the  window,  '  he  is  full  of  monkey-tricks.' 

"  And  soon  afterwards  on  the  second  boy's  violently 
pinching  one  of  the  same  lady's  fingers,  she  fondly 
observed,  *  How  playful  William  is  ! ' 

" '  And  here  is  my  sweet  little  Anna-Maria,'  she 
added,  tenderly  caressing  a  little  girl  of  three  years  old, 
who  had  not  made  a  noise  for  the  last  two  minutes ; 
*  and  she  is  always  so  gentle  and  quiet,  never  was  there 
such  a  quiet  little  thing ! ' 

"  But  unfortunately  in  bestowing  these  embraces  a 
pin  in  her  ladyship's  head-dress  slightly  scratching  the 
child's  neck  produced  from  this  pattern  of  gentleness 
such  violent  screams  as  could  hardly  be  outdone  by  any 
creature  professedly  noisy  .  .  .  her  mouth  stuffed  with 
sugar-plums  .  .  .  she  still  screamed  and  sobbed  lustily, 
and  kicked  her  two  brothers  for  offering  to  touch  her. 
•  .  •  •  •  •  • 

" '  I  have  a  notion,'  said  Lucy  [to  Elinor]  *  you  think 
the  little  Middletons  are  too  much  indulged.  Perhaps 
they  may  be  the  outside  of  enough,  but  it  is  so  natural 
in    Lady    Middleton,  and    for    my  part    I    love   to   see 


26  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

children  full  of  life  and  spirits ;   I   cannot  bear  them  if 
they  are  tame  and  quiet.' 

" '  I  confess/  replied  Elinor,  *  that  while  I  am  at 
Barton  Park  I  never  think  of  tame  and  quiet  children 
with  any  abhorrence  ! '  " 

Those  children  in  the  novels  who  are  not  detestable 
are  usually  lay -figures,  such  as  Henry  and  John 
Knightley,  rosy-faced  little  boys  not  distinguished  by 
any  individuality.  Others  are  merely  pegs  on  which  to 
hang  their  parents'  follies,  such  as  little  Harry  Dashwood, 
who  serves  his  parents  as  an  excuse  for  their  unutterable 
meanness.  The  fact  remains  there  are  only  two  passable 
children  in  the  whole  gallery,  and  one  is  the  slightest  of 
slight  sketches  in  that  little-known  and  half-finished 
story  The  Watsons,  Here  the  little  boy,  Charles,  spoken 
of  as  "  Mrs.  Blake's  little  boy,"  is  a  real  flesh-and-blood 
child,  who  at  his  first  ball  when  thrown  over  remorse- 
lessly by  his  grown-up  partner,  though  "  the  picture  of 
disappointment,  with  crimsoned  cheeks,  quivering  lips, 
and  eyes  bent  on  the  floor,"  yet  contrives  to  utter 
bravely,  "  *  Oh,  I  do  not  mind  it ! ' "  and  whose  naive 
enjoyment  at  dancing  with  Emma  Watson,  who  offers 
herself  as  a  substitute,  is  well  done.  His  conversation 
with  her  is  also  very  natural,  and  his  cry, " '  Oh,  uncle,  do 
look  at  my  partner ;  she  is  so  pretty  ! '"  is  a  human  touch. 

The  other  instance  is  a  sample  of  a  very  nervous, 
shy  child,  perhaps  drawn  from  the  recollections  of  Jane 
Austen's  own  feelings  in  childhood,  this  is  Fanny  Price, 
whose  loneliness  on  her  first  coming  to  Mansfield  Park  is 
carefully  depicted,  but  Fanny  herself  is  unchildlike  and 
exceptional.  Her  younger  brothers  rank  among  the 
gallery  of  bad  children,  for  by  "  the  superior  noise  of 
Sam,  Tom,  and  Charles  chasing  each  other  up  and  down 
stairs,  and  tumbling  about  and  hallooing,  Fanny  was 
almost    stunned.      Sam,    loud    and     overbearing    as    he 


JUVENILE   RETIREMENT 


CHILDHOOD  27 

was,  .  .  .  was  clever  and  intelligent.  .  .  .  Tom  and 
Charles  being  at  least  as  many  years  as  they  were  his 
juniors  distant  from  that  age  of  feeling  and  reason  which 
might  suggest  the  expediency  of  making  friends,  and  of 
endeavouring  to  be  less  disagreeable.  Their  sister  soon 
despaired  of  making  any  impression  on  them  ;  they  were 
quite  untamable  by  any  means  of  address  which  she 
had  spirits  or  time  to  attempt.  .  .  .  Betsy,  too,  a  spoilt 
child,  trained  up  to  think  the  alphabet  her  greatest 
enemy,  left  to  be  with  servants  at  her  pleasure,  and  then 
encouraged  to  report  any  evil  of  them." 

But  Jane  Austen's  abundant  pictures  of  over-indulged, 
badly-behaved  children  are  not  the  only  ones  to  be  found 
in  contemporary  fiction ;  in  Hannah  More's  Ccelebs  in 
Search  of  a  Wife  the  children  come  in  for  dessert,  "  a 
dozen  children,  lovely,  fresh,  gay,  and  noisy  .  .  .  the 
grand  dispute,  who  should  have  oranges,  and  who  should 
have  almonds  and  raisins,  soon  raised  such  a  clamour 
that  it  was  impossible  to  hear  my  Egyptian  friend  .  .  . 
the  son  and  heir  reaching  out  his  arm  to  dart  an  apple 
across  the  table  at  his  sister,  roguishly  intending  to 
overset  her  glass,  unluckily  overthrew  his  own  brimful  of 
port  wine."  And  of  another  and  better  behaved  family 
it  is  observed  as  a  splendid  innovation  that  the  children 
are  not  allowed  to  come  into  dessert,  to  clamour  and 
make  themselves  nuisances,  but  are  limited  to  appearing 
in  the  drawing-room  later. 

One  of  the  characters  in  Ccelebs  is  made  to  observe, 
"  This  is  the  age  of  excess  in  everything ;  nothing  is  a 
gratification  of  which  the  want  has  not  been  previously 
felt.  The  wishes  of  children  are  all  so  anticipated,  that 
they  never  experience  the  pleasure  excited  by  wanting 
and  waiting."  He  speaks  also  of  the  *'  too  great  pro- 
fusion and  plethora  of  children's  books,"  which  is  certainly 
not  a  thing  we  are  used  to  attribute  to  that  age. 


28  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Several  of  the  children's  books  of  that  date  are  kept 
alive  to  the  present  day  by  a  salt  of  insight  into  child 
nature,  and  are  published  and  re-published  perennially. 
Many  a  child  still  knows  and  loves  The  Story  of  the 
Robins,  by  Mrs.  Trimmer,  first  brought  out  in  1786; 
and  as  for  Sandford  and  Merton,  by  Thomas  Day,  which 
was  at  first  in  three  volumes,  published  respectively  in 
I7^3>  ^I^^J^  ^"<^  17^9)  many  a  boy  has  revelled  in  it, 
not  perhaps  entirely  from  the  point  of  view  in  which  it 
was  written,  but  with  a  keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous  in 
the  behaviour  of  the  little  prig  Harry.  Mrs  Barbauld's 
(and  her  brother's)  Evenings  at  Home  still  delights  many 
children ;  and  Miss  Edgeworth's  Parentis  Assistant,  of 
which  the  first  volume  appeared  in  1796,  is  a  perennial 
source  of  amusement  in  nurseries  and  schoolrooms.  The 
Fairchild  Family  suffers  from  an  excess  of  religiosity, 
and  a  terrible  belief  in  the  innate  wickedness  of  a  little 
child's  heart,  which  is  not  now  tolerated.  When  Emily 
and  Lucy  indulge  in  a  childish  quarrel,  they  are  taken  to 
see  what  remains  of  a  murderer  who  has  hung  on  a 
gibbet  until  his  clothes  are  rotting  from  him,  and  the 
warning  is  enforced  by  a  long  sermon  ;  but  in  spite  of 
much  that  would  not  be  suitable  according  to  present 
ideas  for  a  child  to  hear,  The  Fairchild  Family,  the  first 
part  of  which  came  out  a  year  subsequently  to  the  death 
of  Jane  Austen,  contains  much  that  is  very  human  in 
behaviour  and  action.  Though  later  in  date  than  the 
others  mentioned  as  surviving,  it  really  is  quite  as  early 
in  treatment,  as  it  is  a  record  of  what  Mrs.  Sherwood, 
born  in  the  same  year  as  Jane  Austen,  remembered  of 
her  own  childhood. 

The  book  contains  many  examples  of  the  spoilt-child 
phase,  in  contrast  with  which  the  strict  upbringing  of  the 
young  Fairchilds  is  shown  as  the  better  way.  What 
Mrs.  Sherwood  puts   into  the  mouth  of  Mrs.   Fairchild 


CHILDHOOD  29 

about  her  childhood  is  probably  autobiographical,  and 
may  be  quoted  as  an  instance  of  the  sterner  modes  which 
were  then  rapidly  passing  out  of  vogue. 

"  I  was  but  a  very  little  girl  when  I  came  to  live 
with  my  aunts,  and  they  kept  me  under  their  care  until 
I  was  married.  As  far  as  they  knew  what  was  right,  they 
took  great  pains  with  me.  Mrs.  Grace  taught  me  to 
sew,  and  Mrs.  Penelope  taught  me  to  read ;  I  had  a 
writing  and  music  master,  who  came  from  Reading  to 
teach  me  twice  a  week ;  and  I  was  taught  all  kinds  of 
household  work  by  my  aunts'  maid.  We  spent  one  day 
exactly  like  another.  I  was  made  to  rise  early,  and  to 
dress  myself  very  neatly,  to  breakfast  with  my  aunts. 
After  breakfast  I  worked  two  hours  with  my  aunt  Grace, 
and  read  an  hour  with  my  aunt  Penelope ;  we  then,  if 
it  was  fine  weather,  took  a  walk  ;  or,  if  not,  an  airing  in 
the  coach,  I  and  my  aunts,  and  little  Shock,  the  lap-dog, 
together.  At  dinner  I  was  not  allowed  to  speak  ;  and 
after  dinner  I  attended  my  masters  or  learned  my  tasks. 
The  only  time  I  had  to  play  was  while  my  aunts  were 
dressing  to  go  out,  for  they  went  out  every  evening  to 
play  at  cards.  When  they  went  out  my  supper  was 
given  to  me,  and  I  was  put  to  bed  in  a  closet  in  my 
aunts'  room." 

A  modern  child  under  such  treatment  would  probably 
develop  an  acute  form  of  melancholia. 

The  home  education  of  the  time,  for  girls  at  least, 
was  very  superficial.  We  gather  something  of  what  was 
supposed  to  be  taught  from  the  remarks  of  the  Bertram 
girls  in  Mansfield  Park  when  they  plume  themselves  on 
their  superiority  to  Fanny — 

" '  Dear  mamma,  only  think,  my  cousin  cannot  put 
the  map  of  Europe  together — or  my  cousin  cannot  tell 
the  principal  rivers  in  Russia,  or  she  never  heard  of  Asia 
Minor,  or  she  does   not    know   the   differences  between 


3o  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

water  colours  and  crayons  !  How  strange !  Did  you 
ever  hear  anything  so  stupid  ? ' 

"  *  My  dear,'  their  considerate  aunt  would  reply,  *  it  is 
very  bad,  but  you  must  not  expect  everybody  to  be  as 
forward  and  quick  at  learning  as  yourself.' 

"  *  But,  aunt,  she  is  really  so  very  ignorant.  Do  you 
know  we  asked  her  last  night  which  way  she  would  go 
to  get  to  Ireland,  and  she  said  she  should  cross  to  the 
Isle  of  Wight.  I  cannot  remember  the  time  when  I  did 
not  know  a  great  deal  that  she  has  not  the  least  notion 
of  yet.  How  long  ago  is  it,  aunt,  since  we  used  to 
repeat  the  chronological  order  of  the  kings  of  England, 
with  the  dates  of  their  accession,  and  most  of  the 
principal  events  of  their  reigns?' 

"  *  Yes,'  added  the  other,  *  and  of  the  Roman 
Emperors  as  low  as  Severus,  besides  a  great  deal  of  the 
heathen  mythology,  and  all  the  metals,  semi-metals, 
planets,  and  distinguished  philosophers.' " 

The  rattle-pate,  Miss  Amelia,  in  Ccelebs  thus  gives 
an  account  of  her  education  :  "  I  have  gone  on  with  my 
French  and  Italian  of  course,  and  I  am  beginning 
German.  Then  comes  my  drawing-master;  he  teaches 
me  to  paint  flowers  and  shells,  and  to  draw  ruins  and 
buildings,  and  to  take  views.  ...  I  learn  varnishing, 
gilding,  and  Japanning.  And  next  winter,  I  shall  learn 
modelling  and  etching  and  engraving  in  mezzotint  and 
aquatinta.  Then  I  have  a  dancing-master  who  teaches 
me  the  Scotch  and  Irish  steps,  and  another  who  teaches 
me  attitudes,  and  I  shall  soon  learn  to  waltz.  Then  I 
have  a  singing-master,  and  another  who  teaches  me  the 
harp,  and  another  for  the  pianoforte.  And  what  little 
time  I  can  spare  from  these  principal  things,  I  give  by  odd 
minutes  to  ancient  and  modern  history,  and  geography 
and  astronomy,  and  grammar  and  botany,  and  I  attend 
lectures  on  chemistry,  and  experimental  chemistry." 


CHILDHOOD  ^t 

Jane's  early  childhood  was  probably  a  very  happy 
one ;  what  with  the  companionship  of  Cassandra,  with 
the  liveliness  and  constant  comings  and  goings  of  the 
brothers  who  were  educated  at  home  by  Mr.  Austen 
himself,  with  all  the  romps  of  a  large  family  having 
unlimited  country  as  a  playground,  it  can  hardly  have 
failed  to  be  so.  While  she  was  still  too  young  to  profit 
much  by  school  teaching  on  her  own  account,  she  was 
sent  to  a  school  at  Reading  kept  by  a  Mrs.  Latournelle, 
because  Cassandra  was  going,  and  the  two  sisters  could 
not  bear  to  be  parted.  How  long  she  was  at  this  school 
I  do  not  know,  but  the  subjects  taught  were  probably 
those  scheduled  in  the  comprehensive  summary  of 
smatterings  given  by  the  two  Miss  Bertrams.  This 
school  was  a  notable  one,  and  among  the  later  pupils 
was  Mrs.  Sherwood,  who  followed  Jane  after  an  interval 
of  nine  years.  She  probably  went  to  school  as  late  as 
Jane  went  early,  which  would  account  for  the  gap  in 
time  between  two  who  should  have  been  contemporary. 

Miss  Mitford  was  also  a  pupil;  she  went  in  1798 
when  the  school  had  been  removed  to  Hans  Place, 
London.  She  gives  a  lively  account  of  it.  It  was  kept 
by  M.  St.  Quintin,  "  a  well-born,  well-educated,  and 
well-looking  French  emigrant,"  who  "  was  assisted,  or 
rather  chaperoned,  in  his  undertaking  by  his  wife,  a  good- 
natured,  red-faced  Frenchwoman,  much  muffled  up  in 
shawls  and  laces  ;  and  by  Miss  Rowden,  an  accomplished 
young  lady,  the  daughter  and  sister  of  clergymen,  who 
had  been  for  some  years  governess  in  the  family  of  Lord 
Bessborough.  M.  St  Quintin  himself  taught  the  pupils 
French,  history,  geography,  and  as  much  science  as  he 
was  master  of,  or  as  he  thought  it  requisite  for  a  young 
lady  to  know ;  Miss  Rowden,  with  the  assistance  of 
finishing  masters  for  Italian,  music,  dancing,  and  draw- 
ing, superintended  the   general    course   of  study ;  while 


32  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Madame  St.  Quintin  sat  dozing,  either  in  the  drawing- 
room,  with  a  piece  of  work,  or  in  the  library  with  a  book 
in  her  hand,  to  receive  the  friends  of  the  young  ladies  or 
any  other  visitors  who  might  chance  to  call." 

Miss  Mitford  says  further  that  the  school  was 
"  excellent,"  that  the  pupils  were  "  healthy,  happy,  well- 
fed,  and  kindly  treated,"  and  that  "  the  intelligent 
manner  in  which  instruction  was  given  had  the  effect  of 
producing  in  the  majority  of  the  pupils  a  love  of  reading 
and  a  taste  for  literature." 

Of  course  Jane,  being  such  a  child  when  she  went, 
can  hardly  have  taken  full  use  of  the  opportunities  which 
were  afforded  her,  but  perhaps  she  laid  at  school  the 
foundations  of  that  cleverness  in  neat  sewing  and 
embroidery  which  is  manifested  in  the  specimens  still  in 
the  possession  of  her  relatives. 

There  is  a  portrait  of  Jane  painted  when  she  was 
about  fifteen.  It  shows  a  bright  child  with  shining  eyes 
and  one  loose  lock  of  hair  falling  over  her  forehead ; 
not  particularly  pretty,  but  intelligent  and  with  character. 
She  is  standing,  and  is  dressed  in  the  simple  white  gown, 
high  waist,  short  sleeves,  and  low  neck  which  little  girls 
wore  as  well  as  their  elders,  and  round  her  neck  is  a 
large  locket  slung  on  a  slender  chain.  Her  portrait  was 
painted  by  Zoffany  when  she  was  about  fifteen,  on  her 
first  visit  to  Bath,  but  whether  this  reproduction,  which 
appears  in  the  beginning  of  Lord  Brabourne's  Letters  of 
Jane  Austen,  is  from  that  picture  I  have  not  been  able  to 
ascertain. 

Mr.  Austen-Leigh  says  of  her — 

"  In  childhood  every  available  opportunity  of  instruc- 
tion was  made  use  of.  According  to  the  ideas  of  the 
time  she  was  well-educated,  though  not  highly  accom- 
plished, and  she  certainly  enjoyed  that  important  element 
of  mental  training,  associating  at  home  with  persons  of 


CHILDHOOD  33 

cultivated  intellect."  He  says  in  another  place,  "  Jane 
herself  was  fond  of  music,  and  had  a  sweet  voice,  both 
in  singing  and  conversation ;  in  her  youth  she  had 
received  some  instruction  on  the  pianoforte  .  .  .  she 
read  French  with  facility,  and  knew  something  of 
Italian." 

In  French  she  had  at  one  time  a  great  advantage 
in  the  continual  association  with  Madame  de  Feuillade, 
her  cousin,  and  afterwards  her  sister-in-law,  who,  as 
already  mentioned,  had  been  married  to  a  Frenchman. 

The  illustration  on  p.  26  is  a  portrait  group  of  the 
children  of  the  Hon.  John  Douglas  of  the  Morton  family. 
It  was  painted  by  Hoppner,  who  lived  175 8-1 8  10;  and, 
in  the  costumes  of  the  little  boy  and  elder  girl  especially, 
gives  a  good  notion  of  the  dress  of  the  better-class 
children  of  the  period. 


CHAPTER   III 
THE  POSITION  OF  THE  CLERGY 

T  ANE  AUSTEN  was  a  clergyman's  daughter.  At 
I  the  present  time  there  are  undoubtedly  wide  differ- 
•'  ences  in  the  social  standing  of  the  clergy  according 
to  their  own  birth  and  breeding,  but  yet  it  may  be  taken 
for  granted  that  a  clergyman  is  considered  a  fit  guest 
for  any  man's  table.  It  was  not  always  so.  There  was 
a  time  when  a  clergyman  was  a  kind  of  servant,  ranking 
with  the  butler,  whose  hospitality  he  enjoyed ;  we  have 
plenty  of  pictures  of  this  state  of  affairs  in  The  Vicar 
of  Wakefield,  to  go  no  further.  But  before  Jane  was 
born,  matters  had  changed.  The  pendulum  had  not  yet 
swung  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  our  own  day,  when  the 
fact  of  a  man's  being  ordained  is  supposed  to  give  him 
new  birth  in  a  social  sense,  and  a  tailor's  son  passes 
through  the  meagrest  of  the  Universities  in  order  that 
he  may  thus  be  transformed  into  a  gentleman  without 
ever  considering  whether  he  has  the  smallest  vocation 
for  the  ministry.  In  the  Austens'  time  the  status  of  a 
clergyman  depended  a  very  great  deal  on  himself,  and 
as  the  patronage  of  the  Church  was  chiefly  in  the  hands 
of  the  well-to-do  lay-patrons,  who  bestowed  the  livings 
on  their  younger  sons  or  brothers,  there  was  very 
frequently  a  tie  of  relationship  between  the  vicarage  and 
the  great  house,  which  was  sufficient  to  ensure  the  vicar's 
position.      In    the    case    of  relationship  the  system  was 

34 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  CLERGY  35 

probably  at  its  best,  obviating  any  inducement  to  servility  ; 
but  there  was  a  very  evil  side  to  what  may  be  called  local 
patronage,  which  was  much  more  in  evidence  than  it 
is  in  our  time.  Archbishop  Seeker,  in  his  charges  to 
the  clergy  of  the  diocese  of  Oxford,  when  he  was  their 
Bishop  in  1737,  throws  a  very  clear  light  on  this  side 
of  the  question.  He  expressly  enjoins  incumbents  to 
make  no  promise  to  their  patrons  to  quit  the  benefice 
when  desired  before  entering  into  office.  "  The  true 
meaning  therefore  is  to  commonly  enslave  the  incumbent 
to  the  will  and  pleasure  of  the  patron."  The  motive  for 
demanding  such  a  promise  was  generally  that  the  living 
might  be  held  until  such  time  as  some  raw  young  lad, 
a  nephew  or  younger  son  of  the  lord  of  the  manor,  was 
ready  to  take  it.  The  evils  of  such  a  system  are  but 
too  apparent.  We  can  imagine  a  nervous  clergyman  who 
would  never  dare  to  express  an  opinion  contrary  to  the 
will  of  the  benefactor  who  had  the  power  to  turn  him 
out  into  the  world  penniless ;  we  can  imagine  the  time- 
server  courting  his  patron  with  honied  words.  This 
debased  type  is  inimitably  sketched  in  the  character 
of  Mr.  Collins  in  Pride  and  Prejudice,  "  *  It  shall  be 
my  earnest  endeavour  to  demean  myself  with  grateful 
respect  towards  her  ladyship,  and  be  very  ready  to 
perform  those  rites  and  ceremonies  which  are  instituted 
by  the  Church  of  England.'  Lady  Catherine  [he  said] 
had  been  graciously  pleased  to  approve  of  both  the 
discourses  which  he  had  already  had  the  honour  of 
preaching.  She  had  also  asked  him  twice  to  dine  at 
Rosin gs,  and  had  sent  for  him  only  the  Saturday  before, 
to  make  up  her  pool  of  quadrille  in  the  evening.  Lady 
Catherine  was  reckoned  proud,  he  knew,  by  many 
people,  but  he  had  never  seen  anything  but  affability 
in  her.  She  had  always  spoken  to  him  as  she  would 
to  any  other    gentleman ;  she    made    not    the    smallest 


36  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

objection  to  his  joining  in  the  society  of  the  neighbour- 
hood." 

In  his  delightful  exordium  to  Elizabeth  as  to  his 
reasons  for  proposing  to  her,  he  says — 

"  *  My  reasons  for  marrying    are,  first,  that   I   think 

it  a  right  thing  for  every  clergyman  in  easy  circumstances 

(like  myself)  to    set  the  example  of   matrimony  in   his 

parish  ;  secondly,  that   I   am  convinced   it  will  add  very 

I  greatly  to    my  happiness ;  and,    thirdly,   which    perhaps 

I  I  ought  to  have  mentioned  earlier,  that  it  is  the  particular 

/  advice  and  recommendation  of  the  very  noble  lady  whom 

/    I  have  the  honour  of  calling  patroness.      Twice  has  she 

I    condescended  to  give  me  her  opinion   (unasked  too!)  on 

I    this  subject ;  and   it   was   but   the   very   Saturday  night 

before   I   left   Hunsford — between  our  pools  at  quadrille 

while   Mrs.    Jenkinson    was    arranging   Miss  de   Bourgh's 

footstool — that  she  said,  '  Mr.   Collins,  you   must  marry. 

A  clergyman   like  you   must    marry.      Choose    properly, 

choose  a  gentlewoman   for  my  sake,  and   for  your  own  ; 

let  her  be  an   active  useful  sort  of  person,  not  brought  up 

high,  but  able  to  make  a  small  income  go  a  good  way.' " 

And  when,  after  his  marriage  with  her  friend, 
Elizabeth  goes  to  stay  with  them,  and  is  invited  to  dine 
with  them  at  the  Rosings,  Lady  Catherine's  place,  he 
thus  encourages  her — 

"  *  Do  not  make  yourself  uneasy,  my  dear  cousin, 
about  your  apparel.  Lady  Catherine  is  far  from  requir- 
ing that  elegance  of  dress  in  us  which  becomes  herself 
and  daughter.  I  would  advise  you  merely  to  put  on 
whatever  of  your  clothes  is  superior  to  the  rest,  there 
is  no  occasion  for  anything  more.  Lady  Catherine  will 
not  think  the  worse  of  you  for  being  simply  dressed. 
She  likes  to  have  the  distinction   of  rank   preserved.' " 

In  the  case  of  Mr.  Collins,  the  patron  happened  to 
be  a  lady,  but  the  instances  were  numberless  in  which 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  CLERGY  37 

clergymen  spent  all    their  time    toadying  and  drinking 
with  a  fox-hunting  squire. 

Arthur  Young  says  of  the  French  clergy — 
"  One  did  not  find  among  them  poachers  or  fox- 
hunters,  who,  having  spent  the  morning  scampering 
after  hounds,  dedicate  the  evening  to  the  bottle,  and 
reel  from  inebriety  to  the  pulpit,"  from  which  we  may 
infer  that  many  English  clergymen  did. 

Cowper's   satire  on   the  way  in  which   preferment   is 
secured  is  worth  quoting  in  full — 

"Church-ladders  are  not  always  mounted  best 
By  learned  clerks  and  Latinists  professed. 
The  exalted  prize  demands  an  upward  look, 
Not  to  be  found  by  poring  on  a  book. 
Small  skill  in  Latin,  and  still  less  in  Greek, 
Is  more  than  adequate  to  all  I  seek. 
Let  erudition  grace  him  or  not  grace, 
I  give  the  bauble  but  the  second  place  ; 
His  wealth,  fame,  honours,  all  that  I  intend 
Subsist  and  centre  in  one  point — a  friend. 
A  friend  whate'er  he  studies  or  neglects, 
Shall  give  him  consequence,  heal  all  defects. 
His  intercourse  with  peers  and  sons  of  peers — 
There  dawns  the  splendour  of  his  future  years  ; 
In  that  bright  quarter  his  propitious  skies 
Shall  blush  betimes,  and  there  his  glory  rise. 
'Your  lordship'  and  'Your  Grace,'  what  school  can  teach 
A  rhetoric  equal  to  those  parts  of  speech  ? 
What  need  of  Homer's  verse  or  Tully's  prose, 
Sweet  interjections  !  if  he  learn  but  those  ? 
Let  reverend  churls  his  ignorance  rebuke. 
Who  starve  upon  a  dog-eared  pentateuch. 
The  parson  knows  enough  who  knows  a  duke." 

At  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Church  was 
at  its  deadest,  enthusiasm  there  was  none.  Torpid  is 
the  only  word  that  fitly  describes  the  spiritual  condition 
of  the  majority  of  the  clergy.  Seeker  says,  "  An  open 
and  professed  disregard  of  religion  is  become,  through  a 
variety  of  unhappy  causes,  the  distinguishing  character 


38  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

of  the  present  age  "  ;  and  the  clergy,  as  the  salt  of  the 
earth,  had  certainly  lost  their  savour,  and  did  little  or 
nothing  to  resist  an  apathy  which,  too  commonly, 
extended  to  themselves. 

The  duties  of  clergymen  were  therefore  almost  as  light 
as  they  chose  to  make  them.  One  service  on  Sunday,  and 
the  Holy  Communion  three  times  yearly,  at  Christmas, 
Easter,  and  Whitsuntide,  was  considered  enough. 

"  A  sacrament  might  easily  be  interposed  in  the 
long  interval  between  Christmas  and  Whitsuntide,  and 
the  usual  season  for  it,  the  Feast  of  St.  Michael,  is  a  very 
proper  time,  and  if  afterwards  you  can  advance  from  a 
quarterly  communion  to  a  monthly  one,  I  make  no 
doubt  you  will."     (Seeker.) 

Baptisms,  marriages,  and  funerals  were  looked  on  as 
nuisances ;  the  clergyman  ran  them  together  as  much 
as  possible,  and  often  arrived  at  the  last  minute,  flinging 
himself  off  his  smoking  horse  to  gabble  through  the 
service  with  the  greatest  possible  speed ;  children  were 
frequently  buried  without  any  service  at  all. 

The  churches  were  for  the  most  part  damp  and 
mouldy ;  there  were,  of  course,  none  of  the  present  con- 
veniences for  heating  and  lighting.  Heavy  galleries 
cut  off  the  little  light  that  struggled  through  the 
cobwebby  windows.  There  were  mouse-eaten  hassocks, 
curtains  on  rods  thick  with  dust,  a  general  smell  of 
mouldiness  and  disuse,  and  a  cold,  but  ill-ventilated, 
atmosphere. 

In  some  old  country  churches  there  still  survive  the 
family  pews,  which  were  like  small  rooms,  and  in  which 
the  occupants  could  read  or  sleep  without  being  seen 
by  anyone ;  in  one  or  two  cases  there  are  fire-grates 
in  these  ;  and  in  one  strange  example  at  Langley,  in 
Bucks,  the  pew  is  not  only  roofed  in,  but  it  has  a 
lattice    in    front,    with    painted    panels    which    can    be 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  CLERGY  39 

opened  and  shut  at  the  occupants'  pleasure,  and  there 
is  a  room  in  connection  with  it  in  which  is  a  Hbrary 
of  books,  so  that  it  would  be  quite  possible  for  anyone 
to  retire  for  a  little  interlude  without  the  rest  of  the 
congregation's  being  aware  of  it ! 

The  church,  only  opened  as  a  rule  once  a  week, 
was  left  for  the  rest  of  the  time  to  the  bats  and  birds. 
Compare  this  with  one  of  the  neat,  warm,  clean  churches 
to  be  found  almost  everywhere  at  present;  churches 
with  polished  wood  pews,  shining  brass  fittings,  tessellated 
floor  in  place  of  uneven  bricks,  a  communion  table 
covered  by  a  cloth  worked  by  the  vicar's  wife,  and 
bearing  white  flowers  placed  by  loving  hands.  A 
pulpit  of  carved  oak,  alabaster,  or  marble,  instead  of  a 
dilapidated  old  three-decker  in  which  the  parish  clerk 
sat  below  and  gave  out  the  tunes  in  a  droning  voice. 

Organs  were  of  course  very  uncommon  at  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century  in  country  parishes,  and 
though  there  might  be  at  times  a  little  local  music,  as 
an  accompaniment,  the  hymns  were  generally  drawled 
out  without  music  at  all.  This  is  Horace  Walpole's 
idea  of  church  in  1791  :  "I  have  always  gone  now 
and  then,  though  of  late  years  rarely,  as  it  was  most 
unpleasant  to  crawl  through  a  churchyard  full  of  staring 
footmen  and  apprentices,  clamber  a  ladder  to  a  hard 
pew,  to  hear  the  dullest  of  all  things,  a  sermon,  and 
croaking  and  squalling  of  psalms  to  a  hand  organ  by 
journey- men  brewers  and  charity  children." 

The  sermons  were  peculiarly  dry  and  dull,  and  it 
would  have  taken  a  clever  man  to  suck  any  spiritual 
nourishment  therefrom.  They  were  generally  on  points 
of  doctrine,  read  without  modulation  ;  and  if,  as  was 
frequently  the  case,  the  clergyman  had  not  the  energy 
to  prepare  his  own,  a  sermon  from  any  dreary  collection 
sufficed.     The  black  gown  was  used  in  the  pulpit. 


40  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Cowper  gives  a  picture  of  how  the  service  was  often 
taken — 

*'  I  venerate  the  man  whose  heart  is  warm  ; 
Whose  hands  are  pure,  whose  doctrine  and  whose  life 
Coincident,  exhibit  hicid  proof 
That  he  is  honest  in  the  sacred  cause. 
A  messenger  of  grace  to  guilty  men. 
Behold  the  picture  !     Is  it  like  ?     Like  whom  ? 
The  things  that  mount  the  rostrum  with  a  skip, 
And  then  skip  down  again  ;    pronounce  a  text, 
Cry,  ahem  !   and  reading  what  they  never  wrote, 
Just  fifteen  minutes,  huddle  up  their  work. 
And  with  a  well-bred  whisper,  close  the  scene." 

In  this  dismal  account  the  average  only  is  taken, 
and  there  were  many  exceptions ;  we  have  no  reason 
to  suppose,  for  instance,  that  the  Rev.  George  Austen 
marred  his  services  by  slovenliness  or  indifference, 
though  no  doubt  the  most  earnest  man  would  find  it 
hard  to  struggle  against  the  disadvantages  of  his  time, 
and  the  damp  mouldy  church  must  have  been  a  sore 
drawback   to  church-going. 

Twining's  Country  Clergyman  gives  us  a  picture  of 
an  amiable  sort  of  man  of  a  much  pleasanter  type  than 
those  of  Cowper  or  Crabbe. 

We  gain  an  idea  of  a  man  of  a  genial,  pleasant 
disposition,  cultured  enough,  and  fond  of  the  classics ; 
who  kept  his  house  and  garden  well  ordered,  who 
enjoyed  a  tour  throughout  England  in  company  with 
his  wife,  who  thoroughly  appreciated  the  lines  in  which 
his  lot  was  cast,  but  who  looked  upon  the  living  as  made 
for  him,  and  not  he  for  the  parishioners.  A  writer  in 
the  CornhilL  some  years  ago  gives  a  series  of  pleasant 
little  pen-pictures  of  typical  clergymen  of  this  date. 
"  Who  cannot  see  it  all — the  curate-in-charge  himself 
sauntering  up  and  down  the  grass  on  a  fine  summer 
morning,  his  hands  in  the  pockets  of  his  black  or  drab 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  CLERGY  41 

'  small  clothes/  his  feet  encased  in  broad-toed  shoes, 
his  white  neckcloth  voluminous  and  starchless,  his 
low-crowned  hat  a  little  on  one  side  of  his  powdered 
head,  his  eye  wandering  about  from  tree  to  flower, 
and  from  bird  to  bush,  as  he  chews  the  cud  of  some 
puzzling  construction  in  Pindar,  or  casts  and  recasts 
some   favourite  passage   in  his  translation   of  Aristotle." 

There  was  the  fox-hunter  who  in  the  time  not 
devoted  to  sport  was  always  "  welcome  to  the  cottager's 
wife  at  that  hour  in  the  afternoon  when  she  had  made 
herself  tidy,  swept  up  the  hearth,  and  was  sitting  down 
before  the  fire  with  the  stockings  of  the  family  before 
her.  He  would  chat  with  her  about  the  news  of  the 
village,  give  her  a  friendly  hint  about  her  husband's 
absence  from  church,  and  perhaps,  before  going,  would 
be  taken  out  to  look  at  the  pig." 

Or  "  the  pleasant  genial  old  gentleman  in  knee- 
breeches  and  sometimes  top-boots,  who  fed  his  poultry, 
and  went  into  the  stable  to  scratch  the  ears  of  his 
favourite  cob,  and  round  by  the  pig-stye  to  the  kitchen 
garden,  where  he  took  a  turn  for  an  hour  or  two  with 
his  spade  or  his  pruning  knife,  or  sauntered  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets  in  the  direction  of  the  cucumbers 
.  .   .  coming  in  to  an  early  dinner." 

Mr.  Austen  seems  to  have  been  a  mixture  of  the 
first  and  third  of  these  types,  for  he  was  certainly  a 
good  scholar,  and  yet  some  of  his  chief  interests  in 
life  were   connected  with   his  pigs   and   his  sheep. 

But  though  these  are  charming  sketches,  and  their 
counterparts  were  doubtless  to  be  found,  we  fear  they 
are  too  much  idealised  to  be  a  true  representation  of  the 
generality  of  the  clergy  of  that  time ;  and,  charming  as 
they  are,  there  is  an  easy  freedom  from  the  responsibility 
of  office  which  is  strange  to  modern  ideas. 

Livings,  many  of  which  are  bad  enough  now,  were 


42  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

then  even  worse  paid;  £2^  a  year  was  the  ordinary- 
stipend  for  a  curate  who  did  most  of  the  work. 
Massey  {History  of  England  in  the  Reign  of  George  II.) 
estimates  that  there  were  then  five  thousand  livings 
under  £'^0  a  year  in  England ;  consequently  pluralism 
was  oftentimes  almost  a  necessity.  Gilbert  White, 
the  naturalist,  was  a  shining  light  among  clergymen  ; 
he  was  vicar  of  Selborne,  in  Hampshire,  until  his 
death  in  1793;  but  while  he  was  curate  of  Durley, 
near  Bishop's  Waltham,  the  actual  expenses  of  the  duty 
exceeded  the  receipts  by  nearly  twenty  pounds  in  the 
one  year  he  was  there.  To  reside  at  all  was  a  great 
thing  for  a  clergyman  to  do,  and  we  may  be  sure,  from 
what  we  gather,  that  the  Rev.  George  Austen  had  this 
virtue,  for  he  resided  all  the  time  at  Steventon. 

But  though  the  clergy  frequently  left  all  the  work  to 
their  curates,  they  always  took  care  to  receive  the  tithes 
themselves.  In  the  picture  engraved  by  T.  Burke  after 
Singleton,  in  the  period  under  discussion,  we  see  the  fat 
and  somewhat  cross-looking  vicar  receiving  these  tithes 
in  kind  from  the  little  boy,  who  brings  his  basket  con- 
taining a  couple  of  ducks  and  a  sucking  pig  into  the 
vicarage  study. 

Hannah  More  gives  us  an  account  of  the  usual  state 
of  things  in  regard  to  non-residence — 

"  The  vicarage  of  Cheddar  is  in  the  gift  of  the  Dean 
of  Wells ;  the  value  nearly  fifty  pounds  per  annum. 
The  incumbent  is  a  Mr.  R.,  who  has  something  to  do, 
but  I  cannot  find  out  what,  in  the  University  of  Oxford, 
where  he  resides.  The  curate  lives  at  Wells,  twelve 
miles  distant.  They  have  only  service  once  a  week, 
and  there  is  scarcely  an  instance  of  a  poor  person  being 
visited  or  prayed  with.  The  living  of  Axbridge  .  .  . 
annual  value  is  about  fifty  pounds.  The  incumbent 
about  sixty  years  of  age.     Mr.   G.  is  intoxicated  about 


THE   VICAR    RECEIVING   HIS   TITHES 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  CLERGY  43 

six  times  a  week,  and  very  frequently  is  prevented  from 
preaching  by  two  black  eyes,  honestly  earned  by 
fighting." 

"  We  have  in  this  neighbourhood  thirteen  adjoining 
parishes  without  so  much  as  even  a  resident  curate." 

"  No  clergyman  had  resided  in  the  parish  for  forty 
years.  One  rode  over  three  miles  from  Wells  to  preach 
once  on  a  Sunday,  but  no  weekly  duty  was  done  or 
sick  persons  visited ;  and  children  were  often  buried 
without  any  funeral  service.  Eight  people  in  the 
morning,  and  twenty  in  the  afternoon,  was  a  good 
congregation." 

She  evidently  means  that  the  service  was  sometimes 
held  in  the  morning,  and  sometimes  in  the  afternoon,  as 
she  says  there  were  not  two  services. 

She  also  speaks  of  it  as  an  exceptionally  dis- 
interested action  of  Dr.  Kennicott  that  he  had  resigned 
a  valuable  living  because  his  learned  work  would  not 
allow  him  to  reside  in  the  parish. 

By  far  the  best  account  of  what  was  expected  from 
a  contemporary  clergyman  is  to  be  gathered  from  Jane 
Austen's  own  books.  It  is  one  of  her  strong  points  that 
she  wrote  only  of  what  she  knew,  and  as  her  own  father 
and  two  of  her  brothers  were  clergymen,  we  cannot 
suppose  that  she  was  otherwise  than  favourably  inclined 
to  the  class.  Her  sketch  of  Mr.  Collins  is  no  doubt 
something  of  a  caricature,  but  it  serves  to  illustrate  very 
forcibly  one  great  error  in  the  system  then  in  vogue — 
that  of  local  patronage. 

The  other  clergymen  in  her  books  are  numerous : 
we  have  Mr.  Elton  in  Emma^  Edmund  Bertram  and  Dr. 
Grant  in  Mansfield  Park^  Henry  Tilney  in  Northanger 
Abbey ^  and  Edward  Ferrars  in  Sense  and  Sensibility. 

It  is  impossible  to  deny  that  Edmund  Bertram  is  a 
prig,  or  perhaps,  to  put  it  more  mildly,  is  inclined  to  be 


44  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

sententious,  so  sometimes  one  almost  sympathises  with 
the  gay  Miss  Crawford,  whose  ideas  so  shocked  him 
and  Fanny ;  yet  though  those  ideas  only  reflected  the 
current  opinion  of  the  times,  they  were  reprehensible 
enough.  When  Miss  Crawford  discovers,  to  her  chagrin, 
that  Edmund,  whom  she  is  inclined  to  like  more  than  a 
little,  is  going  to  be  a  clergyman,  she  asks — 

"  '  But  why  are  you  to  be  a  clergyman  ?  I  thought 
that  was  always  the  lot  of  the  youngest,  where  there 
were  many  to  choose  before  him  !  ' 

" '  Do  you  think  the  Church  itself  never  chosen, 
then  ? ' 

"  *  Never  is  a  black  word.  But  yes,  in  the  never  of 
conversation  which  means  not  very  often,  I  do  think  it. 
For  what  is  to  be  done  in  the  Church  ?  Men  love  to 
distinguish  themselves,  and  in  either  of  the  other  lines 
distinction  may  be  gained,  but  not  in  the  Church.  A 
clergyman  is  nothing.' " 

And  in  reply  to  Edmund's  defence,  she  continues — 

" '  You  assign  greater  consequence  to  a  clergyman 
than  one  has  been  used  to  hear  given,  or  than  I  can 
quite  comprehend.  One  does  not  see  much  of  this 
influence  and  importance  in  society,  and  how  can  it  be 
acquired  where  they  are  so  seldom  seen  themselves  ? 
How  can  two  sermons  a  week,  even  supposing  them 
worth  hearing,  supposing  the  preacher  to  have  the  sense 
to  prefer  Blair's  to  his  own,  do  all  that  you  speak  of, 
govern  the  conduct  and  fashion  and  manners  of  a  large 
congregation  for  the  rest  of  the  week  ?  One  scarcely 
sees  a  clergyman  out  of  his  pulpit ! ' 

"  *  You  are  speaking  of  London,  I  am  speaking  of 
the  nation  at  large.' " 

But  it  is  noteworthy  that  even  Edmund,  who  is 
upheld  as  a  bright  example,  does  not  in  his  defence 
assert  anything  relative  to  the  careful  looking  after  the 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  CLERGY  45 

lives  of  his  flock  which  nowadays  is  a  chief  part  of  a 
parish  clergyman's  duty.  He  speaks  of  conduct,  and 
declares  that  "  as  the  clergy  are  or  are  not  what  they 
ought  to  be,  so  are  the  rest  of  the  nation,"  but  all  the 
retort  he  wins  from  the  girl  he  so  much  admires  is  that 
she  is  just  as  much  surprised  at  his  choice  as  ever,  and 
that  he  really  is  fit  for  something  better  ! 

In  another  place,  where  the  same  discussion  is 
reopened,  she  says :  " '  It  is  indolence,  Mr.  Bertram, 
indeed — indolence  and  love  of  ease — a  want  of  all 
laudable  ambition,  of  taste  for  good  company,  or  of 
inclination  to  take  the  trouble  of  being  agreeable,  which 
make  men  clergymen.  A  clergyman  has  nothing  to  do 
but  to  be  slovenly  and  selfish,  read  the  newspaper,  watch 
the  weather,  and  quarrel  with  his  wife.  His  curate  does 
all  the  work,  and  the  business  of  his  own  life  is  to 
dine.' " 

This  type  is  exemplified  in  the  same  book  by  Dr. 
Grant,  who  is  not  drawn  vindictively,  but  is  described 
by  his  own  sister-in-law,  Miss  Crawford,  as  "  *  an 
indolent,  selfish  bon  vivant,  who  must  have  his  palate 
consulted  in  everything ;  who  will  not  stir  a  finger  for 
the  convenience  of  anyone ;  and  who,  moreover,  if  the 
cook  makes  a  blunder,  is  out  of  humour  with  his 
excellent  wife.  To  own  the  truth,  Henry  and  I  were 
driven  out  this  very  evening  by  a  disappointment  about 
a  green  goose,  which  he  could  not  get  the  better  of 
My  poor  sister  was  forced  to  stay  and  bear  it.' " 

And  when  Edmund  is  about  to  enter  on  the  living, 
Henry  Crawford  gaily  observes,  "  ^  I  apprehend  he  will 
not  have  less  than  seven  hundred  a  year.  Seven 
hundred  a  year  is  a  fine  thing  for  a  younger  brother ; 
and  as,  of  course,  he  will  still  live  at  home,  it  will  be  all 
for  his  menus  plaisirs ;  and  a  sermon  at  Christmas  and 
Easter,  I  suppose,  will  be  the  sum  total  of  sacrifice.' " 


46  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

After  all  this,  it  is  pleasant  to  know  that  some 
upright  and  serious  men,  even  in  those  days,  thought 
differently  of  the  life  and  duties  of  a  clerg}^man,  for 
Jane  makes  Sir  Thomas  Bertram  reply — 

"  *  A  parish  has  wants  and  claims  which  can  be 
known  only  by  a  clergyman  constantly  resident,  and 
which  no  proxy  can  be  capable  of  satisfying  to  the  same 
extent.  Edmund  might,  in  the  common  phrase,  do  the 
duty  of  Thornton,  that  is,  he  might  read  prayers  and 
preach  without  giving  up  Mansfield  Park  ;  he  might  ride 
over  every  Sunday  to  a  house  nominally  inhabited,  and 
go  through  divine  service ;  he  might  be  the  clergyman 
of  Thornton  Lacey  every  seventh  day,  for  three  or  four 
hours,  if  that  would  content  him.  But  it  will  not.  He 
knows  that  human  nature  needs  more  lessons  than  a 
weekly  sermon  can  convey ;  and  that  if  he  does  not  live 
among  his  parishioners,  and  prove  himself  by  constant 
attention  to  be  their  well-wisher  and  friend,  he  does  very 
little  either  for  their  good  or  his  own.' " 

It  is  also  striking  to  see  how  very  much  the  taking 
of  Orders  depended  upon  some  living  to  be  obtained  ; 
there  seems  to  have  been  no  special  idea  of  suitability, 
and  still  less  of  preparation,  only  the  merest  and  most 
perfunctory  examination  was  demanded  of  the  candidate 
for  Orders,  There  is  a  story  of  this  date  of  one  exam- 
ination for  ordination  where  only  two  questions  were 
asked,  one  of  which  was,  "  What  is  the  Hebrew  for  a 
skull  ?  " 

In  an  entertaining  book  on  Jane  Austen  by  Miss 
Constance  Hill,  published  in  1902,  there  is  a  quotation 
from  a  letter  anent  the  ordination  examination  of  Mr. 
Lefroy,  who  married  Anna,  Jane's  niece.  "  The  Bishop 
only  asked  him  two  questions,  first  if  he  was  the  son  of 
Mrs.  Lefroy  of  Ashe,  and  secondly  if  he  had  married  a 
Miss  Austen." 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  CLERGY  47 

It  is  said  also  that  Brownlow  North,  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  examined  his  candidates  for  ordination  in 
a  cricket  -  field  during  a  match.  One  candidate  is 
described  by  Boswell  as  having  read  no  books  of 
divinity,  not  even  the  Greek  Testament.  There  were, 
of  course,  serious  and  learned  bishops  enough ;  Burnet, 
Bishop  of  Salisbury,  who  lived  from  1643  to  17 15, 
was  horrified  at  the  ignorance  of  candidates,  who 
apparently  had  never  read  the  Old  Testament  and 
hardly  knew  what  was  in  the  New.  "They  cry,  and 
think  it  a  sad  disgrace  to  be  denied  Orders,  though  the 
ignorance  of  some  is  such  that  in  a  well-regulated  state 
of  things  they  would  appear  not  to  know  enough  to  be 
admitted  to  the  Holy  Sacrament." 

It  is  probable  that  the  Bishops  judged  a  great  deal 
more,  on  the  whole,  by  the  appearance  and  manners  of 
the  man  before  them,  and  the  prospects  he  had  of 
holding  a  living,  than  by  his  own  knowledge,  and  in 
the  case  of  a  well-born,  serious-minded  man  like  Edmund 
Bertram  there  would  be  no  difficulty  whatever  about  his 
lack  of  divinity. 

Of  Henry  Tilney's  duties  in  Northanger  Abbey,  very 
little  can  be  said  or  gathered,  he  never  appears  like  a 
clergyman  at  all.  We  are  told  that  the  parsonage  was 
a  ''  new  built,  substantial  stone  house."  We  know  that 
he  had  to  go  there,  much  to  Catherine  Morland's  distress, 
when  she  was  a  guest  at  his  father's  house,  Northanger 
Abbey,  because  the  engagements  of  his  curate  at  Wood- 
ston  obliged  him  to  leave  on  Saturday  for  a  couple  of 
nights.  But  at  all  events  he  does  seem  to  have  spent 
most  of  his  time  at  the  parsonage,  though  he  still  kept 
on  his  room  at  home. 

Of  Edward  Ferrars'  clerical  avocations  we  also  hear 
so  very  little  that  he  might  almost  as  well  have  been  of 
any  other  profession. 


48  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

The  only  other  clergyman  in  the  novels  is  Mr.  Elton, 
a  specimen  not  quite  so  egregious  as  Mr.  Collins,  but 
sufficiently  so  to  be  very  amusing.  On  him  the  waves 
of  Emma's  match-making  break  with  force — 

"  '  Poor  Mr.  Elton  !  You  like  Mr.  Elton,  papa  !  I 
must  look  about  for  a  wife  for  him.  There  is  nobody  in 
Highbury  who  deserves  him,  and  he  has  been  here  a 
whole  year,  and  has  fitted  up  his  house  so  comfortably 
that  it  would  be  a  shame  to  have  him  single  any  longer ; 
and  I  thought  when  he  was  joining  their  hands  to-day, 
he  looked  so  very  much  as  if  he  would  like  to  have  the 
same  kind  office  done  for  him  1 ' " 

Emma  thinks  he  will  do  admirably  for  her  somewhat 
ambiguously  placed  friend  Harriet  Smith,  while  Mr. 
Elton  himself  fixes  his  eyes  on  the  heiress  Emma.  A 
nice  little  illustration  of  the  social  status  of  the  cleric, 
who  would  not  have  been  thought  entirely  out  of  the 
question  for  the  heiress,  though  doubtless  a  little  beneath 
her.  Mr.  Elton  is  represented  as  a  handsome,  ingratiat- 
ing, debonair  young  man,  who  spends  his  time  playing 
the  gallant,  reading  aloud,  making  charades  with  the 
young  ladies,  and  preaching  sermons  that  please  every- 
body. However,  he  meets  his  match  in  the  dashing  and 
vulgar  Mrs.  Elton,  whom  he  picks  up,  soon  after  his 
rejection  by  Emma,  at  a  watering  place,  and  thereafter 
they  spend  their  time  in  a  blissful  state  of  mutual 
admiration. 


CHAPTER   IV 
HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON 

FOR  the  first  five-and- twenty  years  of  her  life,  from 
her  birth  in  December  1775  to  the  spring  of 
1 80 1,  Jane  Hved  at  Steventon,  in  her  father's  rectory,  as 
peaceful  and  quiet  a  home  as  even  she  could  have  wished. 
But  though  her  own  circumstances  were  peaceful  and 
happy,  the  great  world  without  was  full  of  flux  and 
reflux. 

Wars  and  rumours  of  wars,  revolutions  and  upheavals, 
which  changed  the  whole  face  of  Europe,  were  going  on 
year  by  year,  but  of  these  things,  as  I  have  said,  hardly 
an  echo  reaches  us  in  her  writing;  not  even  in  the 
correspondence  with  her  sister,  which  begins  in  1796 
when  the  turmoil  was  at  its  height,  which  is  the  more 
surprising  when  we  consider  that  her  own  sailor  brothers 
were  taking  an  active  part  in  affairs;  and  her  cousin, 
the  Countess  de  Feuillade,  had  fled  to  the  Austens 
for  shelter  when  her  husband  suffered  death  by  the 
guillotine.  What  depths  these  things  stirred  in  Jane, 
or  whether  she  lacked  the  imagination  to  bring  home 
to  her  their  enormous  importance  relative  to  the 
small  4^tails  of  immediate  surroundings,  we  shall  never 
know.  /JHer  minute  observation,  her  unrivalled  faculty 
for  using  that  which  lay  under  her  hand,  the  stores  of 
little  human  characteristics  which,  by  her  transmuting 
touch,  she  invested  with  such  intense  interest,  lead  one 
4  ' 


50  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

to  suppose  that  such  a  clear,  near-sighted  mental  vision 
carried  with  it  defective  mental  long  sight.  There  are 
a  number  of  persons  who,  deeply  and  warmly  interested 
in  that  which  immediately  appeals  to  them,  cannot  throw 
their  sympathy  far  out  over  unseen  events  and  personsj 
We  are  all  prone  to  this,  there  is  not  one  of  us  who  is 
not  more  affected  by  a  single  tragic  death  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood than  by  the  loss  of  a  hundred  lives  in  America ; 
life  in  this  world  would  be  intolerable  were  it  not  so,  this 
is  one  of  the  provisions  of  a  merciful  providence  for 
making  it  endurable.  But  there  are  some  more  near- 
sighted in  this  respect  than  others,  and  from  internal 
evidence  in  the  letters  we  may  judge  that  Jane 
belonged  to  them;  it  is  only  conjecture,  but  it  is 
often  the  case  in  life,  that  virtues  carry  correspond- 
ing faults,  that  extreme  cleverness  in  one  direction 
induces  a  little  want  of  perception  in  another.  The  law 
of  balance  and  compensation  is  so  omnipresent,  that 
Jane's  intensely  clear  vision  in  regard  to  near  objects 
may  have  been  paid  for  by  absorption  in  them,  somewhat 
to  the  exclusion  of  larger  interests. 

In  1789,  while  she  was  yet  but  fourteen  years  old, 
there  began  that  Revolution  which,  taking  it  altogether, 
is  the  most  tremendous  fact  in  the  history  of  Europe 
France  was  seething,  but  as  yet  the  ferment  had  not 
affected  other  nations.  In  the  July  of  that  year  the 
tricolour  was  adopted  as  the  national  flag,  excess  reigned 
supreme,  and  the  nobles  began  to  emigrate.  It  was  not 
until  1792  that  France  began  to  grasp  the  lands  of 
others,  and  reached  forth  the  first  of  those  tentacles, 
which,  like  those  of  an  octopus,  were  to  spread  all  over 
Europe.  In  the  beginning  Austria  and  Prussia  opposed 
her,  but  after  the  murder  of  the  French  King,  in  January 
1793,  England  was  forced  to  join  in  to  protect  Holland, 
and  to  uphold  the  general  status  of  nations.     Treaties 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  51 

were  signed  between  almost  all  the  civilised  nations  of 
Europe,  for  the  crushing  of  a  common  enemy ;  Switzer- 
land alone,  of  those  affected  by  France's  movements, 
remaining  perfectly  neutral. 

The  echoes  of  the  Reign  of  Terror  that  followed 
must  have  reached  even  to  the  remotest  recesses  of 
England,  and  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the  Austens 
were  not  deeply  affected. 

Walpole's  forcible  language  on  the  Revolution  shows 
Its  effect  on  contemporary  opinion  :  "  I  have  wanted  to 
vent  myself,  Madam  [the  Countess  of  Ossory],  but  the 
French  have  destroyed  the  power  of  words.  There  is 
neither  substantive  nor  epithet  that  can  express  the 
horror  they  have  excited!  Brutal  insolence,  bloody 
ferocity,  savage  barbarity,  malicious  injustice,  can  no 
longer  be  used  but  of  some  civilised  country,  where  there 
is  still  some  appearance  of  government.  Atrocious  frenzy 
would,  till  these  days,  have  sounded  too  outrageous  to  be 
pronounced  of  a  whole  city— now  it  is  too  temperate  a 
phrase  for  Paris,  and  would  seem  to  palliate  the  enormity 

of  their  guilt  by  supposing  madness  the  spring  of  it 

but  though  one  pities  a  herd  of  swine  that  are  actuated 
by  demons  to  rush  into  the  sea,  even  those  diabolical 
vagaries  are  momentary,  not  stationary,  they  do  not  last 
for  three  years  together  nor  infect  a  whole  nation— thank 
God  it  is  but  one  nation  that  has  ever  produced  tivo 
massacres  of  Paris." 

^ "  But  of  all  their  barbarities  the  most  inhuman  has  been 
their  not  putting  the  poor  wretched  King  and  Queen  to 
death  three  years  ago.  If  thousands  have  been  murdered 
tortured,  broiled,  it  has  been  extempore ;  but  Louis  and 
his  Queen  have  suffered  daily  deaths  in  apprehension  for 
themselves  and  their  children." 

The  newspapers  gave  long  extracts  from  the  doings 
of  the  National  Assembly,  but  of  course  these  always 


52  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

appeared  some  days  subsequently  to  the  events.  The 
news  of  the  death  of  the  French  King  was  known,  by 
rumour  at  least,  with  extraordinary  quickness,  about  two 
days  after  it  happened,  and  was  received  with  execration. 
Detailed  accounts  did  not  come  in  until  some  days  after. 
The  first  notice  is  thus  announced  in  the  St.  James's 
Chronicle:  "The  murder  took  place  at  four  in  the 
morning  on  Monday,  and  was  conducted  in  the  most 
private  manner.  The  guillotine  was  erected  in  a  court 
of  the  Temple.  A  hole  dug  under  it  into  which  the 
King's  head  fell,  and  his  body  was  precipitated  after." 
This  was  incorrect  in  some  particulars,  as  the  murder  did 
not  take  place  until  after  ten  in  the  morning.  In  all  the 
newspapers  of  the  time,  there  are  little  sentences  that 
strike  us  sadly  even  now,  and  when  freshly  recorded,  as 
having  just  happened,  they  must  have  moved  many 
persons  to  deep  sorrow.  July  i,  1793,  "A  greater 
regard  is  shown  for  the  august  prisoners.  A  small 
waggon  has  been  sent  in  loaded  with  playthings  for  the 
son  of  the  unfortunate  Louis  xvi."  "After  many 
entreaties  the  widow  of  Capet  finally  resolved  to  deliver 
up  to  us  her  son,  who  has  been  conducted  to  the 
apartments  designed  for  him  under  the  care  of  citizen 
Simon."  Charlotte  Corday's  bold  speech,  when  she  was 
brought  up  to  answer  for  her  murder  of  the  tyrant,  is 
quoted :  "  I  did  not  expect  to  appear  before  you ;  I 
always  thought  that  I  should  be  delivered  up  to  the  rage 
of  the  people,  torn  in  pieces,  and  that  my  head,  stuck 
upon  the  top  of  a  pike,  would  have  preceded  Marat  on 
his  state  bed  to  serve  as  a  rallying  point  to  Frenchmen, 
if  there  still  are  any  worthy  of  that  name." 

In  August  of  the  same  year,  the  death  of  Marie 
Antoinette  was  daily  expected.  "The  queen  was 
dressed  in  white  lawn  and  wore  a  black  girdle  ...  her 
cell  is  only  eight  feet  long,  and  eight  feet  wide.      Her 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  53 

couch    consists    of   a    hard    straw    bed    and    very    thin 
coverings ;  her  diet,  soup  and  boiled  meat." 

But  in  an  anguish  of  mind  which  must  have  made 
her  indifferent  to  the  horrors  of  material  surroundings, 
the  poor  Queen  was  kept  alive  until  October,  when 
finally  news  came  of  her  execution.  "  As  soon  as  the 
ci-devant  queen  left  the  Conciergerie  to  ascend  the 
scaffold,  the  multitude  cried  out  brava  in  the  midst  of 
plaudits.  Marie  Antoinette  had  on  a  white  loose  dress, 
her  hands  were  tied  behind  her  back.  She  looked  firmly 
round  her  on  all  sides,  and  on  the  scaffold  preserved  her 
natural  dignity  of  mind." 

This  is  the  kind  of  reading  of  contemporary  events 
that  would  greet  Jane  when  the  household  received  its 
bi-weekly  or  tri-weekly  paper. 

All  through    1794  war  continued,  while  the  French 
slowly  bored    their  way   into    the    Continent.      Of    the 
splendid   naval  victories  of  these  years  we  speak  in  the 
chapter  on  the  Navy ;  these  surely  must  have  affected 
Jane,  and   made  her  heart  beat  high   at  the   thought  of 
what  her  brothers  might  be  called  upon  to  undergo  any 
day.       Toward    the  end  of    1795,  Austria  and   Britain 
alone  were  left  to  uphold  the  right  of  nations  against 
the    all-devouring    French.      In    England    food    was    at 
famine  prices,  and  there  was  actually  a  party  who  wished 
the   enemy   to  win    in    order   that   the   war    might  end. 
London  was  in  a  state  of  great  agitation,  so   that  public 
meetings    were    suppressed    in    the    interests    of    public 
safety.      In    1796,    Spain    declared    war    against    Great 
Britain,  having    previously  patched    up    peace  with  her 
dangerous    neighbour.      In  this  year    Napoleon   Buona- 
parte first  began  to  be  heard  of  outside  his  own  country, 
by  his  successes  in  his  Italian  campaign. 

England,  in  sore  straits,  attempted  to  make  peace, 
but  the  arrogance  of  France  left  her    no  other  course 


54  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

compatible  with  honour  than  to  continue  the  war,  and 
the  opening  of  1797  found  her  in  great  difficulties.  On 
all  sides  invasion  by  France  was  dreaded  ;  in  fact,  in  the 
previous  December  an  attempt  at  such  an  invasion  by 
landing  on  the  coast  of  Ireland,  which  was  in  a  state  of 
bitter  rebellion,  was  made.  In  February  the  victory  of 
St.  Vincent  put  a  little  heart  into  the  English  people,  and 
did  away  for  a  time  with  the  possibility  of  another 
attempt  at  invasion  by  Hoche,  whose  fleet  was  scattered 
by  a  storm.  In  May  of  1797  a  dangerous  mutiny  broke 
out  among  the  sailors,  followed  by  another  at  the  Nore, 
but  these  were  firmly  quelled. 

In  1798,  Napoleon's  Egyptian  campaign  must  have 
been  followed  with  tense  interest,  though  news  would  be 
slow  in  coming,  and  it  would  probably  be  many  days 
before  the  news  of  Lord  Nelson's  glorious  victory  at  the 
Battle  of  the  Nile,  which  had  smashed  up  the  French 
fleet  and  left  Napoleon  stranded,  was  received  in 
England.  This  victory  gave  renewed  spirit  to  the  Allies 
in  Europe.  A  whole  string  of  affiliated  Republics  had 
now  been  established  by  France,  made  out  of  her 
conquests — including  Switzerland,  whose  strict  neutrality 
had  not  preserved  her  from  invasion.  Yet  Austria 
carried  on  her  share  of  the  war  bravely,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1799  the  English  made  a  desperate  attempt 
to  retrieve  the  integrity  of  Holland,  but  after  a  short 
campaign  were  compelled  to  evacuate  the  country.  In 
October  1799,  Napoleon,  finding  his  dreams  of  establish- 
ing a  great  Eastern  kingdom  impracticable,  returned  to 
France,  and  in  the  December  of  the  same  year  was 
acclaimed  First  Consul. 

Thus,  from  her  early  girlhood,  Jane  would  hear  of 
events  which  greatly  affected  her  own  country,  she 
would  be  accustomed  to  a  perpetual  state  of  war,  she 
would    share    in    the    apprehensions    of    invasions,    and 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  55 

the  name  of  Napoleon,  ever  swelling  into  greater  and 
greater  menace,  would  continually  strike  upon  her 
ear. 

In  November  1 800,  Jane  makes  one  of  her  few 
allusions  to  historical  events,  and  then  only  because  it 
concerned  her  brother.  "  The  Petterel  with  the  rest 
of  the  Egyptian  squadron  was  off  the  Isle  of  Cyprus, 
whither  they  went  from  Jaffa  for  provisions,  and  whence 
they  were  to  sail  in  a  day  or  two  for  Alexandria,  there 
to  await  the  result  of  the  English  proposals  for  the 
evacuation  of  Egypt." 

In  I  800,  with  Buonaparte  at  the  head  of  a  military 
despotism,  a  new  era  began  in  the  war.  The  two  terrific 
battles  of  Marengo  and  Hohenlinden,  hotly  contested,  left 
the  French  victors ;  and  at  the  latter  seven  thousand  of 
the  Allies  were  taken  prisoners,  and  seven  thousand  killed 
and  wounded. 

In  this  year,  at  home  the  most  important  event  was 
the  Union  of  Ireland  with  Great  Britain. 

When  the  Continental  war  was  going  on,  the  news 
from  the  field  of  battle  was  generally  eight  or  nine  days 
old.  But  this,  of  course,  was  nothing  to  the  time  which 
elapsed  in  the  case  of  India,  for  events  which  had 
happened  there  in  February  were  given  to  the  public  as 
news  in  August !  Then,  indeed,  to  send  a  boy  to  the 
East  was  to  part  with  him  in  reality.  There  was  a  long 
voyage  round  the  Cape,  prolonged  indefinitely  by  wind 
and  weather,  to  encounter.  It  would  be  a  year  from  his 
setting  out  before  the  news  of  his  arrival  could  reach  his 
relations  in  England.  It  is  the  enormous  difference  made 
by  the  telegraph  that  strikes  us  most  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  this  era.  Of  course  the  officials  in  India  could 
not  get  instructions  from  home,  they  were  responsible  for 
the  conduct  of  aftairs,  and  the  sense  of  responsibility  and 
the  impossibility  of  being  checked  in  anything  they  wished 


56  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

to  do,  no  doubt  gave  them  that  splendid  decision  which 
won  for  us  our  Indian  Empire. 

It  was  in  1784  that  the  India  Act,  introduced  by 
Pitt,  had  given  England  power  over  Indian  affairs.  In 
the  following  year,  Hastings  had  returned  home,  and  his 
celebrated  trial,  ending  in  his  complete  acquittal  in  1795, 
must  have  taught  the  English  more  about  Indian  matters 
than  they  had  ever  known  before.  To  attend  the  trial 
in  Westminster  Hall  was  one  of  the  society  diversions  of 
the  day. 

In  1 79 1,  in  one  day,  the  Duchess  of  Gordon  "went 
to  Handel's  music  in  the  Abbey ;  she  then  clambered 
over  the  benches  and  went  to  Hastings'  trial  in  the  Hall ; 
after  dinner  to  the  play ;  then  to  Lady  Lucan's 
assembly ;  after  that  to  Ranelagh,  and  returned  to  Mrs. 
Hobart's  faro  table ;  gave  a  ball  herself  in  the  evening 
of  that  morning,  into  which  she  must  have  got  a  good 
way,  and  set  out  for  Scotland  the  next  day." 

Long  before  Jane's  death,  the  mighty  Empire  of  India 
had  passed  almost  completely  under  British  control. 
But  if  her  lifetime  saw  the  foundation  of  one  Empire  it 
witnessed  also  the  loss  of  another  country.  The  United 
States  were  declared  independent  in  the  first  year  of  her 
life,  and  before  she  was  of  an  age  to  take  any  practical 
note  of  politics  they  had  been  recognised  by  France  as 
an  independent  nation.  She  lived,  indeed,  in  an  epoch 
when  history  was  made,  and  she  lived  on  into  a  new  era 
of  things,  when  Buonaparte  was  finally  subdued,  France 
settled,  the  Continent  at  peace.  At  present  we  have 
only  briefly  outlined  the  extraordinary  series  of  events 
which  filled  the  five-and-twenty  years  during  which  she, 
living  in  her  sheltered  nook  at  Steventon,  heard  only 
echoes.  There  is  something  peculiarly  suitable  in  pictur- 
ing her  in  this  tranquil  backwater. 

As  far  as  Jane's  personal  appearance  is  concerned,  we 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  57 

can  gather  some  notion  of  her,  though  the  materials  are 
slight.  The  only  portrait  preserved  of  her  when  grown 
up  is  from  a  water-colour  drawing  by  her  sister,  and  repre- 
sents a  bright,  intelligent,  but  not  very  prepossessing  face, 
with  large  eyes  and  a  straight  nose.  There  is  humour 
and  decision  in  the  expression,  and  in  spite  of  the  quaint 
cap  and  the  simple  dress  with  elbow-sleeves  and  tucked 
chemisette,  which  make  it  look  a  little  odd  to  modern 
eyes,  there  is  distinct  personality.  It  may  be  a  good 
likeness  of  her  as  she  was  then,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
one  must  allow  something  for  the  treatment  of  an 
amateur,  and  we  can  afford  to  think  of  her  as  being  more 
attractive  than  she  is  here  represented.  A  contemporary 
verbal  description  left  of  her  is  that  given  by  Sir  Egerton 
Brydges,  who  knew  her  personally.  He  says  :  "  She  was 
fair  and  handsome,  slight  and  elegant,  but  with  cheeks  a 
little  too  full."  We  may  well  believe  that,  as  to  looks, 
she  was  in  that  middle  state  of  neither  exceptional 
beauty  nor  exceptional  plainness,  which  is  certainly  the 
happiest.  Emma  Woodhouse  is  supposed  to  have 
resembled  her  more  than  any  of  her  other  heroines,  and 
she  herself  describes  Emma  by  the  mouth  of  one  of  the 
other  characters  in  the  book :  " '  Such  an  eye !  the  true 
hazel  eye,  and  so  brilliant !  Regular  features,  open 
countenance,  with  a  complexion — oh,  what  a  bloom  of 
full  health ;  and  such  a  pretty  height  and  size,  such  a 
firm  and  upright  figure.  There  is  health,  not  merely  in 
her  bloom,  but  in  her  air,  her  head,  her  glance.  One 
sometimes  hears  of  a  child  being  "  the  picture  of  health," 
now  Emma  always  gives  me  the  idea  of  being  the 
complete  picture  of  grown-up  health.'  " 

The  most  exact  personal  description  we  have  of  Jane 
is  to  be  found  in  the  preface  to  the  first  edition  of 
Northanger  Abbey ^  written  by  her  brother  Henry.  Allow- 
ing for  the  fact  that  this  was  penned  at  a  time  when  the 


e 


58  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

hearts  of  all  who  knew  her  were  bleeding  for  the  early- 
death  by  which  she  had  been  taken  from  them,  and  that 
her  gentle  and  gradual  decline  had  previously  softened 
and  toned  down  the  whole  of  that  bright  \ivQ\y  nature, 
so  that  any  small  imperfections  had  been  entirely 
smoothed  away,  we  may  gather  a  good  picture  of  her 
from  his  words — 

*'  Her  stature  was  that  of  true  elegance,  it  could  not 
have  been  increased  without  exceeding  the  middle  height. 
Her  carriage  and  deportment  were  quiet  yet  graceful. 
Her  features  were  separately  good.  Their  assemblage 
produced  an  unrivalled  expression  of  that  cheerfulness, 
sensibility,  and  benevolence,  which  were  her  real  char- 
acteristics. Her  complexion  was  of  the  finest  texture. 
Her  voice  was  extremely  sweet."  He  says  also  that 
"  she  excelled  in  conversation  as  much  as  in  composition  ; 
she  was  faultless,  and  never  commented  with  unkind- 
ness  even  on  the  vices  of  others  ;  she  always  sought  in 
the  faults  of  others  something  to  excuse,  forgive,  or 
forget.  She  never  uttered  a  hasty,  a  silly,  or  a  severe 
expression."  He  speaks  further  of  her  good  memory, 
of  her  fondness  for  landscape,  and  her  musical  skill,  and 
says  that  Johnson  was  her  favourite  author  in  prose, 
Cowper  in  verse. 

Yet  though  bright  and  clever,  and  animated  by 
indisputable  genius,  she  was  not  intellectual ;  the  world  of 
ideas  held  no  place  in  her  mind.  We  can  see  very  well 
from  her  books  that  the  great  fundamental  laws  so 
important  to  a  wide,  deep  mind  were  entirely  ignored  by 
her.  She  was  of  the  mental  calibre  of  her  own  Elizabeth 
Bennet,  a  bright  intelligent  companion,  without  depth  or 
brain  force.  We  cannot  imagine  her  grasping  abstrac- 
tions or  wrestling  with  theories ;  her  mind  was  formed  for 
practicalities  and  facts. 

Jane,  we  know,  was  very  healthy  and  full  of  spirits, 


JANE  AUSTEN 


X 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  59 

we  hear  of  no  ailments  beyond  a  weakness  of  the  eyes 
from  which  she  certainly  suffered  ;  she  says,  "  My  eyes 
have  been  very  indifferent  since  it  [the  last  letter]  was 
written,  but  are  now  getting  better  once  more  ;  keeping 
them  so  many  hours  open  on  Thursday  night,  as  well  as 
the  dust  of  the  ballroom,  injured  them  a  good  deal. 
I  use  them  as  little  as  I  can,  but  you  know,  and  every- 
body who  has  ever  had  weak  eyes  knows,  how  delightful 
it  is  to  hurt  them  by  employment,  against  the  advice  and 
entreaty  of  all  one's  friends." 

The  Austens  had  special  advantages  in  their  position 
in  the  fact  that  they  were  relatives  of  Mr.  Knight,  to 
whom  the  whole  parish  belonged.  Mr.  Austen  seems  to 
have  been  referred  to,  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Knight,  as  a 
kind  of  squire.  He  lived  simply,  but  had  apparently 
enough  money  to  allow  his  daughters  the  privileges  of 
gentlewomen,  and  they  went  to  all  the  dances  and  balls 
in  the  neighbourhood,  and  paid  frequent  visits  to  their 
brothers'  houses  for  weeks  at  a  time.  Mr.  Austen  kept 
a  carriage  and  pair,  though  that  meant  less  than  it  would 
do  now,  as  private  means  of  conveyance  was  much  more 
necessary  and  there  was  no  carriage  tax  to  add  to  the 
expense. 

Mrs.  Austen  seems  to  have  been  constantly  ailing, 
which  threw  the  housekeeping  a  good  deal  into  the  hands 
of  her  daughters.  It  is  possible  that  her  ailments  were 
more  imaginary  than  real,  as  she  lived  to  a  great  age,  and 
in  her  old  age  employed  herself  about  the  garden  and 
poultry,  and  is  spoken  of  as  being  brisk  and  bright. 
Perhaps  she  grew  more  energetic  as  she  grew  older,  a 
not  uncommon  process.  Jane's  allusions  to  her  mother's 
health  are  frequent,  and  sometimes  seem  to  point  to  the 
fact  that  she  did  not  altogether  believe  in  them — 

"  Now  indeed  we  are  likely  to  have  a  wet  day,  and 
though  Sunday,  my  mother  begins  it  without  any  ailment." 


6o  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

"It  began  to  occur  to  me  before  you  mentioned  it, 
that  I  had  been  somewhat  silent  as  to  my  mother's  health 
for  some  time,  but  I  thought  you  could  have  no  difficulty 
in  divining  its  exact  state — you,  who  have  guessed  so 
much  stranger  things.  She  is  tolerably  well,  better  upon 
the  whole  than  she  was  some  weeks  ago.  She  would  tell 
you  herself  that  she  has  a  very  dreadful  cold  in  her  head 
at  present,  but  I  have  not  much  compassion  for  colds  in 
the  head  without  fever  or  sore  throat." 

"  My  mother  continues  hearty ;  her  appetite  and 
nights  are  very  good,  but  she  sometimes  complains  of  an 
asthma,  a  dropsy,  water  in  her  chest,  and  a  liver  disorder." 

"  For  a  day  or  two  last  week  my  mother  was  very 
poorly  with  a  return  of  one  of  her  old  complaints,  but  it 
did  not  last  long,  and  seems  to  have  left  nothing  bad 
behind  it.  She  began  to  talk  of  a  serious  illness,  her  two 
last  having  been  preceded  by  the  same  symptoms,  but 
thank  heaven  she  is  now  quite  as  well  as  one  can  expect 
her  to  be  in  the  weather  which  deprives  her  of  exercise." 

In  the  family  memoirs,  Mrs.  George  Austen  is  always 
spoken  of  as  a  person  of  wit  and  imagination,  in  whom 
might  be  found  the  germs  of  her  daughter's  genius ;  such 
opinion  based  on  recollections  must  be  deferred  to,  but 
such  is  not  the  picture  we  gather  from  the  letters.  There, 
Mrs.  Austen  seems  to  have  exercised  none  but  the 
slightest  influence  on  her  daughters'  lives,  and  when  they 
do  mention  her,  it  is  only  to  remark  on  her  health,  or 
the  care  of  her  in  a  journey,  or  that  she  will  not  have 
anything  to  do  with  choosing  the  furniture  for  the  new 
home  in  Bath. 

It  is  a  curious  circumstance,  taken  in  conjunction 
with  this,  that  all  the  mothers  of  Jane's  heroines,  when 
living,  are  described  as  fools  or  worse.  It  is  not  in- 
tended to  hint  that  she  drew  such  characters  from  the 
home  circle  or  from  her  mother's  friends,  but  it  is  plainly 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  6i 

to  be  seen  that  she  did  not  look  for,  or  expect  from 
women  of  this  standing,  the  wit  and  sense  she  found 
elsewhere.  Indeed,  when  one  thinks  of  the  bringing  up 
of  women  in  those  days,  their  narrowness  of  education 
and  extraordinary  ignorance  of  the  world,  it  is  wonder- 
ful how  many  did  possess  keen  sense  and  mother  wit. 
The  most  notable  of  the  examples  in  point  in  the  books! 
is  Mrs.  Bennet  in  Pride  and  P7'ejudice^  who,  with  her 
foolish  indulgence  of  her  younger  children,  her  mad  desire 
to  get  her  daughters  married  to  anyone  who  could  furnish 
a  home  of  whatever  sort,  is  the  worst  specimen  of  her 
kind.  "  '  Oh,  Mr.  Bennet,  you  are  wanted  immediately  ; 
we  are  all  in  an  uproar.  You  must  come  and  make 
Lizzie  marry  Mr.  Collins,  for  she  vows  she  will  not  have 
him  ;  and  if  you  do  not  make  haste  he  will  change  his 
mind  and  not  have  her.' "  Mr.  Bennet's  subsequent  calm 
rebuke  in  his  admonition  to  his  daughter,  " '  An  unhappy 
alternative  is  before  you,  Elizabeth.  From  this  day  you 
must  be  a  stranger  to  one  of  your  parents.  Your  mother 
will  never  see  you  again  if  you  do  not  marry  Mr.  Collins, 
and  I  will  never  see  you  again  if  you  do,' "  heightens  the 
effect  of  his  wife's  folly. 

Mrs.  Bennet's  fatuous  self-complacency,  selfishness, 
and  want  of  sense  might  have  been  almost  too  painful 
to  cause  amusement  even  in  a  book,  had  they  not 
been  set  off  by  her  husband's  sardonic  humour,  just 
the  touch  that  Jane  Austen  knew  so  well  how  JoJ 
give. 

But  Mrs.  Bennet  is  not  the  only  one.  Mrs.  Jennings, 
in  Sense  and  Sensibility^  is  "  a  good-humoured,  merry, 
fat,  elderly  woman,  who  talked  a  great  deal,  seemed  very 
happy  and  rather  vulgar."  She  is  perpetually  making 
the  Dashwood  girls  wince  with  her  outspoken  allusions, 
and  seems  altogether  deficient  in  taste  and  sense,  though 
extremely  kind-hearted. 


62  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

As  for  Mrs.  Dashwood  senior,  in  the  same  book,  in 
her  belief  in  the  charming  but  double-faced  Willoughby, 
she  is,  if  possible,  one  degree  more  credulous  than  her 
most  foolish  daughter.  Lady  Bertram  of  Mansfield  Park 
is  kind  enough  to  her  niece  in  her  own  way,  but  "  she 
did  not  go  into  public  with  her  daughters.  She  was  too 
indolent  even  to  accept  a  mother's  gratification  in 
witnessing  their  success  and  enjoyment  at  the  expense 
of  any  personal  trouble."  "  Lady  Bertram  did  not  at  all 
like  to  have  her  husband  leave  her ;  but  she  was  not 
disturbed  by  any  alarm  for  his  safety  or  solicitude  for  his 
comfort,  being  one  of  those  persons  who  think  nothing 
can  be  dangerous  or  difficult  or  fatiguing  to  anyone  but 
themselves." 

Mrs.  Musgrove  senior,  in  Persuasion^  is  nothing  but 
a  soft-hearted  fool,  and  "  Captain  Wentworth  should  be 
allowed  some  credit  for  the  self-command  with  which  he 
attended  to  her  large  fat  sighings  over  the  destiny  of  a 
son  whom,  alive,  nobody  had  cared  for." 

The  middle-aged  women  without  daughters,  such  as 
Lady  Russell  and  Mrs.  Croft,  in  the  same  book,  are 
allowed  to  be  sensible,  but  a  mother  with  grown-up 
daughters  seems  always  to  be  mercilessly  delineated  by 
Jane. 

Of  Mr.  Austen  not  much  is  known  ;  he  was  a  quiet, 
reserved  man,  noted  for  his  good  looks,  and  clever 
enough  to  educate  his  sons  for  the  University  himself. 
In  his  younger  days  he  took  pupils,  and  it  was  one  of 
these  pupils  who  in  after  years  became  so  much  attached 
to  Cassandra  that  he  entered  into  the  engagement  with 
her  which  terminated  so  sadly.  Mr.  Austen  probably 
kept  a  restraining  hand  over  his  large  household,  and  was 
responsible  for  the  sensible  and  kindly  upbringing  which 
his  daughters  received ;  he  seems  to  have  placed  no 
restraint  whatever  on  their  pleasures  as  they  grew  up. 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  63 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  husbands  of  all  the  foolish 
women  in  Jane's  books  noted  above  are  sensible,  self- 
restrained,  capable  men. 

As  for  the  surroundings  and  small  details  of  the 
home  where  Jane  remained  with  her  sister  and  parents 
when  the  brothers  went  out  into  the  world,  it  is  very- 
difficult  to  give  an  adequate  picture.  There  was  a  great 
simplicity,  and  an  absence  of  many  things  which  are  now 
turned  out  in  profusion  by  machinery  but  were  then 
not  known.  We  have  all  of  us  been  in  old  houses  of 
the  simpler  kind,  and  noted  the  severity  of  uncorniced 
walls,  the  smallness  of  the  inconvenient  sash-windows, 
the  plainness  of  the  whole  aspect.  To  the  furniture,  also, 
the  same  remarks  would  apply,  there  would  be  fewer 
things  and  of  a  more  solid  kind.  "  Perhaps  we  should 
be  most  struck  with  the  total  absence  of  those  elegant 
little  articles  which  now  embellish  and  encumber  our 
drawing-room  tables.  We  should  miss  the  sliding 
bookcases,  and  picture  stands,  the  letter  weighing 
machines  and  envelope  cases,  the  periodicals  and  illus- 
trated newspapers — above  all,  the  countless  swarm  of 
photograph  books  which  now  threaten  to  swallow  up 
all  space."     (Mr.  Austen-Leigh  in  the  Memoir.) 

By  the  following  quotation  from  Jane  herself  before 
the  removal  to  Bath,  what  a  vision  is  instantly  conjured 
up  of  the  yellow  speckled  prints  in  cheap,  varnished 
frames,  the  crude  colours  and  stereotyped  subjects  of 
those  old  pictures  which  still  occasionally  remain  in  the 
spare  rooms  of  country  houses — 

"  As  to  our  pictures,  the  battle  piece,  Mr.  Nibbs, 
Sir  William  East,  and  all  the  old  heterogeneous  mis- 
cellany, manuscript,  scriptural  pieces  dispersed  over  the 
house  are  to  be  given  to  James.  Your  own  drawings 
will  not  cease  to  be  your  own,  and  the  two  paintings 
on  tin  will  be  at  your  disposal.     My  mother  says  that 


64  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

the  French  agricultural  prints  in  the  best  bedroom  were 
given  by  Edward  to  his  two  sisters." 

In  regard  to  minor  matters  of  domestic  comfort, 
lucifer  matches  were  not  in  general  use  until  1834, 
though  the  fact  that  they  were  anticipated  by  some 
genius  in  advance  of  his  time  is  evidenced  by  this  ad- 
vertisement in  the  Morning  Post  of  1788 — 

"  For  Travellers,  Mariners,  etc.,  Promethean  Fire  and 
Phosphorus. 

**  G.  Watts  respectfully  acquaints  the  public  that  he 
has  prepared  a  large  variety  of  machines  of  a  portable 
and  durable  kind,  with  Promethean  fire,  paper  and 
match  enclosed,  most  admirably  calculated  to  prevent 
those  disagreeable  sensations  which  most  frequently 
arise  in  the  dreary  hour  of  midnight,  from  sudden  alarm, 
thieves,  fire,  or  sickness." 

Considering  this,  it  is  probable  that  some  sort  of 
sulphur  match  was  in  use  before  1834,  though  the 
general  method  would  be  the  tedious  flint  and  steel. 

For  firing,  wood  was,  of  course,  largely  used,  the 
cottagers  depended  totally  on  "  pilfering,  breaking 
hedges,  and  cutting  trees."  Coal  was  very  expensive, 
being  of  course  mined  with  difficulty  in  the  pre- 
machinery  days ;  here  is  a  contemporary  account  of  a 
visit  to  a  coal-mine  in  Yorkshire.  "  We  had  the 
curiosity  to  walk  and  take  a  near  outside  view  of  one 
seventy  yards  deep.  The  manner  they  work  them  is 
strange  and  not  a  little  dangerous,  as  they  are  obliged 
to  have  candles,  and  sometimes  with  a  roof  so  low  that 
men  dig  on  their  knees.  .  .  .  They  have  two  boxes  which 
are  alternately  pulled  up  and  down  by  pullies  worked  by 
a  horse,  which  goes  round  and  round  in  a  sort  of  well." 

Added  to  the  expense  of  mining  was  the  expense 
of  carriage,  which,  in  the  days  before  railways,  had  to 
be   done   by   canal    or    sea,   and    the   term   sea-coal   so 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  6$ 

frequently  used  in  the  literature  of  the  day  refers  to 
this  sea-borne  coal.  Sometimes  after  a  storm  the 
vessels  were  delayed,  so  that  the  scarcity  of  coal  ran  up 
the  price  enormously. 

This  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  details  at  the  rectory. 
In  such  a  home  there  was  plenty  ^  of  occupation  for  a 
bright  spirit  like  Jane's,  and  we  can  hardly  imagine  her 
ever  to  have  been  idle.  When  her  sister  was  away,  she 
undertook  the  housekeeping,  and  writes  playfully — 

"  My  mother  desires  me  to  tell  you  that  I  am  a 
good  housekeeper,  which  I  have  no  reluctance  in  doing, 
because  I  really  think  it  my  peculiar  excellence,  and 
for  this  reason — I  always  take  care  to  provide  such 
things  as  please  my  own  appetite,  which  I  consider  as 
the  chief  merit  in  housekeeping.  I  have  had  some 
ragout  veal,  and  I  mean  to  have  some  haricot  mutton 
to-morrow.      We  are  to  kill  a  pig  soon." 

"  I  am  very  fond  of  experimental  housekeeping,  such 
as  having  an  ox-cheek  now  and  then ;  I  shall  have  one 
next  week,  and  I  mean  to  have  some  little  dumplings 
put  into  it." 

At  another  time,  speaking  of  the  family  doctor, 
she  says — 

"  I  was  not  ashamed  of  asking  him  to  sit  down  to 
table,  for  we  had  some  pease-soup,  a  sparerib,  and  a 
pudding." 

Dinner  at  that  date  (1799)  was,  for  the  unfashion- 
able, at  the  hour  of  three,  and  for  the  fashionable  not 
earlier  than  five,  and  sometimes  much  later.  Lady 
Newdigate  (T/ie  Cheverels  of  Cheverel  Manor)  says, 
"  The  hours  of  the  family  are  what  the  polite  world 
would  not  conform  to,  viz.,  breakfast  at  half  past  eight, 
dine  at  half  past  three,  supper  at  nine,  and  go  to  bed 
at  ten." 

Jane  Austen  in  her  home  life  was  not  in  a  fashion- 

5 


66  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

able  set,  and  her  people  did  not  ape  the  manners  of 
society ;  she  writes  at  another  time,  "  We  dine  now  at 
half  past  three,  and  have  done  dinner  I  suppose  before 
you  begin  ;  we  drink  tea  at  half  past  six." 

When  she  went  to  stay  at  Godmersham,  which 
she  frequently  did,  she  mingled  with  county  people  and 
noted  their  manners  and  ways ;  but  she  was  entirely  free 
from  snobbishness,  and  her  quiet  satire  of  those  who 
imitated  all*  the  superficial  details  in  the  life  of  a  higher 
class  than  their  own  is  seen  in  her  account  of  Tom 
Musgrave  in  T/ie  WatsonSy  who  condescends  to  stay  and 
play  cards  with  the  Watsons  until  nine,  when  "  the 
carriage  was  ordered  to  the  door,  and  no  entreaties  for 
his  staying  longer  could  now  avail ;  for  he  well  knew 
that  if  he  stayed  he  would  have  to  sit  down  to  supper 
in  less  than  ten  minutes,  which,  to  a  man  whose  heart 
had  long  been  fixed  on  calling  his  next  meal  a  dinner, 
was  quite  insupportable." 

It  is  not  difficult  to  trace  the  evolution  of  the  dinner- 
hour  ;  in  the  time  of  Pepys,  busy  men  rose  early  and 
took  hardly  any  breakfast,  perhaps  a  glass  of  wine  or 
a  draught  of  ale  with  a  bit  of  bread. 

M.  Grosley,  a  Frenchman  who  visited  England  about 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  says  that  "  the 
butter  and  tea,  which  the  Londoners  live  upon  from  the 
morning  till  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  occasion 
the  chief  consumption  of  bread,  which  is  cut  in  slices,  and 
so  thin  that  it  does  as  much  honour  to  the  address 
of  the  person  who  cuts  it  as  to  the  sharpness  of  the 
knife.  Two  or  three  of  these  slices  furnish  out  a 
breakfast." 

After  this  slight  repast,  corresponding  to  the  Con- 
tinental coffee  and  roll,  men  worked  hard  until  dinner- 
time, a  meal  that  occupied  several  hours,  and  at  which 
they  consumed  an  enormous  amount ;  and  they  did  little 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  6/ 

or  no  work  afterwards.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  how,  on 
account  of  work,  the  early  dinner-hour  of  the  poorer 
classes  at  noon  began  to  be  postponed  among  men  who 
were  more  or  less  their  own  masters  until  they  could 
feel,  in  a  common  phrase,  they  had  "  broken  the  back  ot 
the  day's  work";  hence  the  curious  hour  of  three.  In 
out-of-the-way  places  to  this  day  the  Sunday  dinner- 
hour  is  at  four  o'clock.  When  breakfast  became  more 
usual,  it  was  not  necessary  to  have  dinner  so  early  as 
three ;  and  with  our  present  fashion  of  breakfast  and 
lunch,  to  say  nothing  of  afternoon  tea,  which  we  have 
transferred  from  after  to  before  dinner,  the  dinner  may  be 
postponed  to  as  late  an  hour  as  is  desired  without  incon- 
venience. 

Mrs.  Lybbe  Powys  (then  Caroline  Girle)  mentions  in 
her  lively  Journal :  "  We  had  a  breakfast  at  Holkham  in 
the  genteelest  taste,  with  all  kinds  of  cakes  and  fruit, 
placed  undesired  in  an  apartment  we  were  to  go  through, 
which,  as  the  family  were  from  home,  I  thought  was  very 
clever  in  the  housekeeper,  for  one  is  often  asked  by  people 
whether  one  chooses  chocolate,  which  forbidding  word 
puts  (as  intended)  a  negative  on  the  question." 

Table  decorations  were  unknown  even  at  large 
banquets,  people  sat  on  benches  and  were  served  in 
the  simplest  manner.  Lady  Newdigate  gives  an  account 
of  suppers  and  prices  when  she  was  staying  at  Buxton — 

"  Being  examined  by  the  Bart  in  regard  to  our  suppers 
and  what  we  paid,  he  [her  cousin]  owned  that  we  were 
charged  but  one  shilling  and  it  seems  they  pay  two. 
Upon  this  poor  Mrs.  Fox  [the  landlady]  was  attacked 
and  abused  in  very  gross  terms.  So  she  came  to  us 
with  streaming  eyes  to  beg  we  would  explain  to  the 
Edmonstones  that  our  suppers  were  never  anything  more 
than  a  tart  and  cold  chicken  which  we  eat  when  the 
company  went  to  supper  above,  whereas  the  E.'s  order 


6S  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

a  hot  supper  of  five  or  six  dishes  to  be  got  at  nine 
o'clock." 

She  also  gives  many  details  as  to  the  items  con- 
stituting her  meals :  "  We  are  going  to  sup  upon  crawfish 
and  roasted  potatoes.  Our  feast  [dinner]  will  consist  of 
neck  of  mutton,  lamb  steaks,  cold  beef,  lobsters,  prawns, 
and  tart." 

This  is  the  menu  of  a  dinner  given  to  Prince  William 
of  Gloucester  in  1798 — 

Salmon  Trout. 

Soles. 

Fricando  of  Veal.  Raised  Giblet  Pie. 

Vegetable  Pudding. 

Chickens.  Ham. 

Muffin  Pudding. 

CuiTy  of  Rabbits.  Preserve  of  Olives. 

Soup.  Haunch  of  Venison. 

Open  Tart  Syllabub.  Raised  Jelly. 

Three  Sweetbreads  Larded. 

Maccaroni.  Buttered  Lobster. 

Peas. 

Potatoes. 

Baskets  of  Pastry.  Custards. 

Goose, 

Forks  were  two-pronged  and  not  in  universal  use ; 
knives  were  broad-bladed  at  the  ends,  and  it  was  the 
fashion  to  eat  peas  with  them. 

"  The  taste  for  cleanliness  has  preserved  the  use  of 
steel  forks  with  two  prongs.  .  .  .  With  regard  to  little 
bits  of  meat,  which  cannot  so  well  be  taken  hold  of  with 
the  two  pronged  forks,  recourse  is  had  to  the  knife,  which 
is  broad  and  round  at  the  extremity." 

It  is  to  be  wished  that  two-pronged  forks  still  survived 
in  the  public  restaurants  of  to-day,  as  the  use  of  the 
present  forks  in  such  places  is  one  of  the  minor  trials 
of  daily  life. 

Mrs.  Papendick's  account  of  the  plate  and  services 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  69 

acquired  at  her  marriage  gives  us  an  idea  of  what  was 
then  thought  necessary  in  this  respect.  She  says,  "  Two 
of  our  rooms  were  furnished  by  her  Majesty,  and  a  case 
of  plate  was  also  sent  by  her,  which  contained  cruets, 
saltcellars,  candle-sticks,  and  spoons  of  different  sizes, 
silver  forks  not  being  then  used.  From  the  Queen  came 
also  six  large  and  six  small  knives  and  forks,  to  which 
mamma  added  six  more  of  each,  and  a  carving  knife  and 
fork.  Our  tea  and  coffee  set  were  of  common  Indian 
china,  our  dinner  service  of  earthenware,  to  which,  for 
our  rank,  there  was  nothing  superior,  Chelsea  porcelain 
and  fine  India  china  being  only  for  the  wealthy.  Pewter 
and  Delft  ware  could  also  be  had,  but  were  inferior." 
Though  Mr.  Papendick  was  attached  to  the  Court,  he  was 
anything  but  wealthy. 

Turning  to  the  novels,  we  find  food  frequently 
mentioned  in  Emniay  when  the  little  suppers  of  minced 
chicken  and  scalloped  oysters,  so  necessary  after  an  early 
dinner,  were  always  provided  at  the  Woodhouses.  Poor 
Mr.  Woodhouse's  feelings  on  these  occasions  are  mixed. 
"  He  loved  to  have  the  cloth  laid  because  it  had  been  the 
fashion  of  his  youth  ;  but  his  conviction  of  suppers  being 
very  unwholesome,  made  him  rather  sorry  to  see  any- 
thing put  upon  it ;  and  while  his  hospitality  would  have 
welcomed  his  visitors  to  everything,  his  care  for  their 
health  made  him  grieve  that  they  would  eat.  Such 
another  small  basin  of  thin  gruel  as  his  own  was  all  that 
he  could,  with  thorough  self-approbation,  recommend ; 
though  he  might  constrain  himself,  while  the  ladies  were 
comfortably  clearing  the  nicer  things,  to  say — 

"  *  Mrs.  Bates,  let  me  propose  your  venturing  on  one 
of  these  eggs.  An  ^g^  boiled  very  soft  is  not  unwhole- 
some. Serle  understands  boiling  an  ^g'g  better  than 
anybody.  I  would  not  recommend  an  ^gg  boiled  by 
anyone  else,  but  you  need  not  be  afraid,  they  are  very 


70  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

small  you  see — one  of  our  small  eggs  will  not  hurt  you. 
Miss  Bates,  let  Emma  help  you  to  a  little  bit  of  tart- — a 
very  little  bit.  Ours  are  all  apple  tarts.  You  need  not 
be  afraid  of  unwholesome  preserves  here.  I  do  not  advise 
the  custard.  Mrs.  Goddard,  what  say  you  to  half  a 
glass  of  wine?  A  small  half  glass  put  into  a  tumbler 
of  water?  I  do  not  think  it  could  disagree  with 
you.' " 

Arthur  Young,  who  made  a  tour  through  the  southern 
counties  of  England  in  1771,  gives  us  carefully  tabulated 
facts,  from  which  we  learn  that  the  average  price  for  meat 
of  all  kinds,  beef,  mutton,  veal,  and  pork,  was  no  more 
than  3^d.  per  pound.  Butter  was  6|d.  per  pound, 
and  bread  a  i^d.  By  1786  we  find  that  "meat, 
taking  one  kind  with  another,  was  fivepence  a  pound ; 
a  fowl  ninepence  to  a  shilling ;  a  quartern  loaf  fourpence ; 
sugar  fourpence  a  pound ;  tea  six  shillings  a  pound  and 
upwards." 

With  these  prices  it  must  be  remembered  that  wages 
ruled  much  lower  than  at  present.  By  1 801,  when  Jane 
was  in  Bath,  the  incessant  state  of  war  had  raised  every- 
thing. She  writes  :  "  I  am  not  without  hopes  of  tempting 
Mrs.  Lloyd  to  settle  in  Bath ;  meat  is  only  8d.  per 
pound,  butter  I2d.,  and  cheese  pjd.  You  must 
carefully  conceal  from  her,  however,  the  exorbitant 
price  for  fish ;  a  salmon  has  been  sold  at  2s.  gd.  per 
pound  the  whole  fish." 

In  1800  the  price  of  the  quartern  loaf  was  is.  lojd., 
and  then  peace  was  declared.  In  the  preceding  ten 
years  the  scarcity  of  flour  had  been  so  great  that  all 
sorts  of  changes  were  suggested  in  the  making  of  bread. 
The  members  of  the  Privy  Council  set  the  example  in 
their  own  households  of  not  eating  puddings,  or  any- 
thing that  required  flour,  excepting  the  necessary  bread, 
which  was   to  be  half  made  of  rye.     Flour  as  powder 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  71 

for  wigs  was  no  more  used,  being  needed  for  consump- 
tion, and  rice  was  recommended  to  the  poor. 

In  1800,  also,  was  passed  the  Brown  Bread  Act, 
forbidding  the  sale  of  pure  white  wheaten  bread,  or  the 
consumption  of  any  sort  of  bread  new,  as  if  it  were 
stale  it  was  thought  it  would  go  farther.  In  the  seven 
years  before  1800  the  prices  of  not  only  bread,  but  meat, 
butter,  and  sugar,  had  risen  to  double  what  they  had  been 
previously. 

With  a  small  household  of  only  three  persons,  in 
the  absence  of  Cassandra,  the  ordering  at  Steventon 
Rectory  cannot  have  occupied  much  time  or  thought. 

Though  there  would  possibly  be  rather  more  active 
superintendence  of  the  domestics  than  at  present,  ladies 
of  comfortable  means  did  not  then,  any  more  than  now, 
spend  all  their  mornings  in  the  kitchen,  as  is  sometimes 
erroneously  supposed.  Jane  would  doubtless  fill  up  her 
time  with  a  little  practising,  a  little  singing,  the  re- 
trimming  of  a  hat,  correspondence,  and  the  other  small 
items  that  go  to  make  up  a  country  girl's  life.  In  the 
usual  avocations  of  a  genteel  young  lady,  "  the  pianoforte, 
when  they  were  weary  of  the  harp,  copying  some 
indifferent  drawings,  gilding  a  set  of  flower  pots,  and 
netting  white  gloves  and  veils,"  we  see  a  tedious  inanition 
quite  foreign  to  our  conception  of  Jane. 

Though  gardening  was  not  then  a  hobby,  as  it  is 
now,  there  would  be  general  superintendence  of  the 
gardener,  and  many  a  lingering  walk  by  the  borders  and 
flower-beds  on  sunny  mornings.  Jane  evidently  loved 
flowers,  as  she  often  refers  to  them  in  her  letters. 

"  Hacker  has  been  here  to-day,  putting  in  the  fruit 
trees.  A  new  plan  has  been  suggested  concerning  the 
plantation  of  the  new  enclosures  on  the  right-hand  side 
of  the  elm  walk  ;  the  doubt  is  whether  it  would  be  better 
to  make  a  little  orchard  of  it  by  planting  apples,  pears. 


72  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

and    cherries,    or    whether    larch,    mountain     ash,    and 
acacia." 

There  was  at  this  time  a  reaction  against  the  stiff 
and  formal  gardening  which  had  been  in  fashion  since 
introduced  by  William  III.  "  It  is  from  wild  and  un- 
cultivated woods,  that  is  from  pure  nature,  that  the 
present  (1772)  English  have  borrowed  their  models  in 
gardening  .  .  .  daisies  and  violets  irregularly  scattered  form 
the  borders  of  them.  These  flowers  are  succeeded  by 
dwarf  trees,  such  as  rose  buds,  myrtle,  Spanish  broom, 
etc."     (Grosley.) 

M.  Grosley  also  speaks  of  wages  for  gardeners  being 
very  high :  "  I  have  myself  seen  a  spot  of  ground,  not 
exceeding  an  acre,  occupied  partly  by  a  small  house, 
partly  by  gravel  walks,  with  two  beds  of  flowers,  where 
the  gardener,  who  was  lodging  in  the  house,  had  a 
salary  of  twelve  guineas  a  year." 

Wages  for  all  classes  were,  as  has  been  said,  much 
lower  than  now ;  in  regard  to  this  question  the  cry 
of  a  "Constant  Reader"  to  The  Times  in  1795  is 
amusing — 

"  Tell  a  servant  now,  in  the  mildest  manner,  they 
have  not  done  their  work  to  please  you,  and  you  are 
told  to  provide  for  yourself,  and,  should  you  offer  to 
speak  again,  they  are  gone.  ...  I  look  upon  their 
exorbitant  increase  of  wages  as  chiefly  conducive  to  their 
impertinence ;  for  when  they  had  five  or  six  pounds  a 
year,  a  month  being  out  of  place  was  severely  felt ;  but 
now  their  wages  are  doubled,  they  have  in  great  measure 
lost  their  dependence.  And  what  is  this  increase  of 
wages  for  ?  Not  in  order  to  lay  by  a  little  in  case  of 
sickness,  but  to  squander  in  dress.  No  young  woman 
now  can  bear  a  strong  pair  of  leather  shoes,  but  they 
must  wear  Spanish  leather,  and  so  on  in  every  article 
of  dress." 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  73 

By  Arthur  Young's  account  wages  were  less  even 
than  above,  he  says  that  dairymaids  received  an  average 
of  £2i^  I2s.  yearly,  and  other  maids  ;£'3,  6s.  Prices 
possibly  varied  in  different  places,  being  higher  in  London 
where  labour  was  scarcer.  "  Wages  are  very  considerable 
.  .  .  a  fat  Welsh  girl  who  has  just  come  out  of  the 
country,  scarce  understood  a  word  of  English,  capable 
of  nothing  but  washing,  scouring,  and  sweeping  the 
rooms  .  .  .  [received]  six  guineas  a  year,  besides  a 
guinea  a  year  for  her  tea,  which  all  servant  maids 
either  take  in  money,  or  have  it  found  for  them  twice 
a  day.  The  wages  of  a  cook  maid  who  knows  how 
to  roast  and  boil  amount  to  twenty  guineas  a  year." 
(Grosley.) 

When  the  household  details  had  been  attended  to, 
the  members  of  the  Austen  family  must  sometimes  have 
walked  in  the  rough  lanes.  In  order  to  avoid  the  mud 
in  winter  or  wet  weather,  ladies  wore  pattens,  which  had 
an  iron  ring  underneath  and  raised  the  foot,  these  pattens 
clinked  as  they  walked,  and  must  have  been  very  bad  in 
causing  an  awkward  drag  in  the  gait.  But  country 
lane  walking  was  not  greatly  in  favour  then,  women's 
gowns,  with  long  clinging  skirts,  were  not  adapted  for 
such  promenades,  and  it  is  amusing  to  think  how  sur- 
prised either  Jane  or  Cassandra  would  have  been  could 
they  have  met  a  modern  tailor-made  girl,  with  gaiters, 
and  comfortable,  trim  short  skirt  well  clearing  the 
ground. 

Though  visiting  the  poor  was  not  a  regular  duty,  it 
is  evident  from  many  indications  that  the  girls  took 
pleasure  in  knowing  the  parishioners,  and  they  must 
have  been  to  see  them  occasionally. 

The  life  of  labourers  was  at  that  time  extremely 
dull,  and  it  is  little  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  were 
rough    boors    when    they    were     left    entirely    without 


74  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

reasonable  means  of  recreation,  and  without  any  mental 
nourishment.  The  public-house  was  often  the  working- 
man's  sole  chance  of  relaxation.  Very  few  could  read 
or  write ;  in  the  long  winter  evenings  there  was  nothing 
for  them  to  do  but  to  sit  in  a  draughty  cottage  over  a 
small  wood-fire,  without  any  of  the  luxuries  that  are  now 
considered  necessaries  in  every  labourer's  cottage.  The 
interiors  resembled  a  Highland  crofter's  hut,  with  beaten 
earth  flooring,  often  damp  ;  rough  uncovered  walls,  no 
gay  prints,  or  polished  furniture.  The  introduction  of 
machinery  has  in  this  case,  as  in  so  many  others, 
altered  the  entire  aspect  of  life.  When  sofa  legs  can  be 
turned  out  by  the  hundred  by  a  machine  for  little  cost, 
everyone  can  afford  sofas ;  when  the  process  of  reproduc- 
tion of  pictures  is  reduced  to  a  minimum,  every  wall  is 
adorned.  Even  the  woven  quilts  and  patterned  chair- 
covers,  now  so  little  thought  of  as  to  be  hardly  noticed, 
were  then  unknown ;  plain  dyes  for  materials  were  all 
that  could  be  had. 

Though   probably    Cowper's    dismal    picture    is    an 
extreme  case,  it  has  the  merit  of  being  contemporary — 

**The  frugal  housewife  trembles  when  she  lights 
Her  scanty  stock  of  brushwood,  blazing  clear, 
But  dying  soon  like  all  terrestrial  joys. 

.  .  .  The  brown  loaf 
Lodged  on  the  shelf,  half  eaten  without  sauce 
Of  savoury  cheese,  or  butter  costlier  still. 

.  .  .  All  the  care 
Ingenious  parsimony  takes  but  just 
Saves  the  small  inventory,  bed  and  stool, 
Skillet  and  old  carved  chest,  from  public  sale." 

But  to  set  against  this  we  have  the  idyllic  pictures 
of  cottage  life  to  be  found  amid  the  works  of  Morland 
and  his  confreres.     One  of  these,  engraved  by  Grozer,  is 


Oi 

o 
< 

H 

o 
u 

> 

a, 

CL, 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  75 

given  as  an  illustration.  Here,  though  the  cottage  is 
low  and  dark,  with  thatched  roof  and  small  windows,  the 
healthy,  smiling  faces  of  the  cottagers  themselves  are  very- 
attractive.  The  truth  probably  lay  in  the  mean  between 
Cowper's  realism  and  the  artist's  idealism,  health  and 
good  temper  may  have  been  found  even  amid  dirt 
and  squalor. 

At  that  time  the  state  of  the  roads  cut  off  the 
dweller  in  a  small  village  from  any  neighbouring  town. 
At  present  the  three  or  four  miles  of  good  solid 
road  in  and  out  of  a  provincial  town  are  nothing  to  a 
young  man  who  starts  off  after  his  work  on  Saturday 
evenings,  and  in  many  cases  he  has  a  bicycle  with  which 
to  run  over  them  more  easily  still.  At  that  time  the 
roads,  even  main  roads,  were  in  a  filthy  state ;  the  Act 
of  1775,  by  making  turnpike  roads  compulsory,  did  much 
to  improve  them,  but  previously  they  were  often  mere 
quagmires  with  deep  ruts,  similar  to  the  roads  running 
by  the  side  of  a  field  where  carting  has  been  going  on. 
Many  and  many  a  record  is  there  of  the  coaches  being 
stuck  or  overturned  in  the  heavy  mud. 

The  days  of  village  merry-making  and  sociability 
seemed  to  have  passed  away  in  Puritan  times  never  to 
revive,  and  had  not  been  replaced  by  the  personal 
pleasures  of  the  present  time.  A  labourer  of  Jane 
Austen's  days  had  the  bad  luck  to  live  in  a  sort  of 
intermediate  time.  Not  for  him  the  reading-room  with 
its  bright  light  and  warm  fire,  the  concert,  the  club,  and 
the  penny  readings,  the  smooth-running  bicycle  or  the 
piano.  Here  is  Horace  Walpole's  picture  of  suburban 
felicity :  "  The  road  was  one  string  of  stage  coaches 
loaded  within  and  without  with  noisy  jolly  folks,  and 
chaises  and  gigs  that  had  been  pleasuring  in  clouds  of 
dust ;  every  door  and  every  window  of  every  house 
was  open,  lights  in  every  shop,  every  door  with  women 


'je  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

sitting  in  the  street,  every  inn  crowded  with  drunken 
topers ;  for  you  know  the  English  always  announce 
their  sense  of  heat  or  cold  by  drinking.  Well !  It  was 
impossible  not  to  enjoy  such  a  scene  of  happiness  and 
affluence  in  every  village,  and  amongst  the  lowest  of 
the  people ;  who  are  told  by  villainous  scribblers  that 
they  are  oppressed  and  miserable." 

Wages  for  labourers,  as  in  the  case  of  servants,  were 
very  low.  Arthur  Young  gives  an  interesting  digest  of 
the  wages  then  in  vogue  in  the  southern  counties.  He 
divides  the  year  into  three  parts  :  harvest,  five  weeks  ;  hay- 
time,  six  weeks  ;  and  winter,  forty-one  weeks ;  the  average 
of  weekly  wages  for  these  three  respective  periods  was 
13s.  id.,  9s,  I  id.,  and  7s.  i  id.,  making  a  weekly  medium 
of  about  8s.  8d.  all  the  year  round.  The  writer  is  very 
severe  on  the  labourers  for  what  he  considers  their 
gross  extravagance  in  the  matter  of  tea  and  sugar,  indeed 
his  remarks  sound  so  queer  to  our  ears  now  that  they 
are  worth  quoting  at  some  length — 

"  All  united  in  the  assertion  that  the  practice  [of 
having  tea  and  sugar]  twice  a  day  was  constant,  and  that 
it  was  inconceivable  how  much  it  impoverished  the  poor. 
This  is  no  matter  of  trivial  consequence;  no  transitory 
or  local  evil ;  it  is  universal  and  unceasing ;  the  amount 
of  it  is  great  .  .  .  this  single  article  cost  numerous 
families  more  than  sufficient  to  remove  their  real 
distresses,  which  they  will  submit  to  rather  than  lay 
aside  their  tea.  And  an  object,  seemingly,  of  little 
account,  but  in  reality  of  infinite  importance,  is  the 
custom,  coming  in,  of  men  making  tea  an  article  of 
their  food,  almost  as  much  as  women ;  labourers  losing 
their  time  to  come  and  go  to  the  tea  table ;  nay,  farmers' 
servants  even  demanding  tea  for  their  breakfast,  with  the 
maids !  Which  has  actually  been  the  case  in  East  Kent. 
If  the  men  come  to  lose  as  much  of  their  time  at  tea  as 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  'JJ 

the  women,  and  injure  their  health  by  so  bad  a  beverage, 
the  poor,  in  general,  will  find  themselves  far  more  dis- 
tressed than  ever.  Wants,  I  allow,  are  numerous,  but 
what  name  are  we  to  give  to  those  that  are  voluntarily- 
embraced  in  order  for  indulgence  in  tea  and  sugar?  .  .  . 
There  is  no  clearer  fact  than  that  two  persons,  the  wife 
and  one  daughter  for  instance,  drinking  tea  once  a  day 
amounts,  in  a  year,  to  a  fourth  of  the  price  of  all  the 
wheat  consumed  by  a  family  of  five  persons ;  twice  a 
day  are  half;  so  that  those  who  leave  off  two  tea 
drinkings  can  afford  to  eat  wheat  at  double  the  price 
(calculated  at  six  shillings  a  bushel)." 

Tea  was,  of  course,  then  very  expensive.  Lady 
Newdigate  writes  to  her  husband  in  1781,  "I  enclose 
Mr.  Barton's  account  for  tea,  the  sum  frights  one,  but 
if  the  common  tea  runs — as  Mr.  B.  says  it  does — near 
eighty  pounds  the  chest,  it  will  answer  well.  The  best 
is  full  1 6s.  a  pound,  but  Mundays  and  Newdigates 
who  have  also  a  lot  and  have  also  had  from  the 
shops  since  the  new  tax  was  laid,  say  it  is  better  than 
what  you  can  buy  for  i8s."  {The  Cheverels  of  Cheverel 
Manor') 

Besides  other  occupations,  such  as  have  been  slightly 
indicated,  there  was  one  in  Jane's  life  about  which  she 
seldom  spoke  to  anyone ;  from  her  earliest  childhood 
the  instinct  to  write  had  been  in  her,  and  she  had 
scribbled  probably  in  secret.  Such  a  thing  would  not 
be  encouraged  in  a  child  of  her  time.  Nowadays, 
when  every  little  Rosina  and  Clarence  has  a  page  to 
themselves  in  the  weekly  papers,  and  can  see  her  or 
his  own  childish  effusions  in  print,  winning  thereby  the 
proud  and  admiring  commendations  of  mother  and 
father,  the  case  is  different ;  Jane  wrote  because  she 
had  to  write,  it  was  there  and  it  must  come  out,  but 
she  probably  looked    on    her  writing  as  something    to 


7S  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

be  ashamed  of,  a  waste  of  time,  and  only  read  her 
compositions  to  her  brothers  and  sisters  under  compulsion 
when  no  adults  were  present.  Mr.  Austen-Leigh  says, 
"It  is  impossible  to  say  at  how  early  an  age  she  began 
to  write.  There  are  copy  books  extant  containing 
tales,  some  of  which  must  have  been  composed  while 
she  was  a  young  girl,  as  they  had  amounted  to  a  con- 
siderable number  by  the  time  she  was  sixteen.  Her 
earliest  stories  are  of  a  slight  and  flimsy  texture,  and 
are  generally  intended  to  be  nonsensical,  but  the 
nonsense  has  much  spirit  in  it." 

He  gives  as  an  instance  "  The  Mystery,  a  short 
unfinished  Comedy."  He  says  later,  "  But  between 
these  childish  effusions  and  the  composition  of  her 
living  works,  there  intervened  another  stage  of  her 
progress,  during  which  she  produced  some  stories,  not 
without  merit,  but  which  she  never  deemed  worthy  of 
publication." 

It  was  one  of  these,  at  first  called  Elinor  and 
Marianne^  which  became  the  germ  of  Sense  and 
Sensibility^  and  perhaps  from  these  early  stories  she 
might,  had  she  lived,  have  developed  and  produced 
other  books. 

The  beautiful  old  town  of  Winchester,  once  the 
capital  of  the  kingdom,  lies  only  twelve  miles  from 
Steventon,  and  though  there  was  no  smooth,  hard  high- 
road as  we  know  it,  the  Austens'  carriage  horses  were 
probably  stoutly-built  animals  who  pulled  their  load 
through  the  mire  with  right  goodwill.  Many  an  ex- 
pedition to  the  town  must  Jane  have  made,  and  well 
would  she  know  the  ancient  part  by  the  Cathedral  and 
College,  so  little  ^altered  now  that  we  may  look  upon 
it  with  her  eyes.  '  The  red  walls,  with  their  garnishing 
of  lichen  and  ferns,  the  beautiful  nooks  and  sunny 
corners,  would  all  be  very  familiar  to  her ;  and  in  these 


HOME  LIFE  AT  STEVENTON  79 

happy  days,  when  she  was  still  a  light-hearted  girl 
without  a  thought  of  fame,  how  little  would  she  think 
that  one  day  she  should  pass  away  close  to  the  old 
grey  Cathedral,  which  itself  should  form  her  burial- 
place,  and  which  would  be  visited  on  that  account  by 
hundreds  yet  unborn,  who  knew  her  only  in  her  booksA 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    NOVELS 

THE  life  of  a  genius  is,  after  all,  secondary  to  the 
works  by  which  he  lives ;  no  one  would  want  to 
kncvv  anything  about  him  had  not  the  works  aroused 
their  interest.  The  personality  when  revealed  is  oft- 
times  disappointing,  sometimes  repulsive,  but  that 
cannot  alter  the  value  of  the  work.  There  is  certainly 
no  fear  that  we  shall  find  anything  repulsive  in  the 
simple  life  of  Jane  Austen,  or  that  we  shall  be  dis- 
appointed in  knowing  her  as  she  was,  but  for  all  that 
the  works  are  the  thing. 

One  writer  on  Jane  Austen,  in  what  purports  to  be 
a  book,  has  devoted  three  hundred  and  thirty-two  pages 
out  of  three  hundred  and  eighty-six  to  a  synopsis  of 
the  plots  of  the  novels,  told  in  bald  and  commonplace 
language,  without  any  of  the  sparkle  of  the  original, 
so  that  even  the  extracts  embedded  in  such  a  context 
seem  flat  and  uninteresting.  This  sort  of  book-making 
is  worse  than  useless,  it  is  positively  harmful.  Anyone 
who  read  the  volume  before  reading  the  original  novels 
would  assuredly  never  go  to  them  after  having  seen 
them  flattened  out  in  this  style.  There  is  no  place  for 
such  a  book ;  anyone  who  is  interested  in  Jane  Austen 
at  all  should  read  her  works  as  they  are.  There  can  be 
no  excuse  on  the  ground  of  length,  the  longest,  Emma, 
runs  to  four  hundred  and  thirty-six  pages  of  clear  type 

80 


e 


THE  NOVELS  8i 

in  duodecimo  form.  For  the  publication  of  an  abridged 
form  of  Richardson's  ^  irks,  there  might  be  excuse; 
anyone  who  read  such  an  abridgement  might  be 
forgiven,  for  Richardson's  masterpiece  filled  seven 
volumes !  But  with  Jane  Austen  there  is  nothing  to 
abridge,  every  sentence  tells,  tb^je  is  no  prolixity,  every 
word  has  its  intrinsic  value,  and  to  retell  her  sparkling 
little  stories  in  commonplace  language  is  indeed  to 
attempt  the  painting  of  the  rose. 

This  book,  at  all  events,  is  intende^i  •  nly  for  those 
who  know  the  novels  at  first  hand,  and  there  shall  be 
no  explaining,  no  pandering  to  that  laziness  that  prefers 
hash  to  joints.  Taking  it  for  granted  that  eve:  v  -ne 
knows  the  six  complete  novels,  we  enter  here  on  a 
discussion  of  the  excellencies  common  to  all,  leaving 
them  to  be  discussed  singly  as  they  occur  chrono- 
logically in  the  life  of  their  author.  The  first  question 
that  occurs  to  anyone  in  this  connection  is^liow  is  it 
that  these  books,  without  plot,  without  adventures, 
without  double  entendre^  have  managed  to  entrance 
generations  of  readers,  and  to  be  as  much  alive  to-day 
as  when  they  were  written  ?j  The  answer  is  simple  and 
comprehensive,4-they  are*^  human  nature  all  compact!] , 
This  is  the  firsi  and  greatest  quality.  We  have  in  them 
no  heroes  and  heroines,  no  villains,  but  only  men  and 
women  ;  and  while  the  world  lasts  stories  of  real  live  flesh- 
and-blood  characters  will  hold  their  own.  The  second 
characteristic,  which  is  the  salt  of  fiction,  is  the  keen 
sense  of  humour  that  runs  throughout.  Jane  Austen's 
observation  of  the  foibles  of  her  fellow-creatures  was 
unusually  sharp,  her  remarks  in  her  letters  are  not 
always  kind,  but  in  the  novels  this  sharp  and  keen 
relish  of  what  is  absurd  is  softened  down  so  as  to  be 
nowhere  offensive.  Like  her  own  Elizabeth,  she  might 
say,  '|j  hope  I  never  ridicule  what  is  wise  or  good. 
6 


82  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Follies  and  nonsense,  whims  and  inconsistencies,  do 
divert  me,  I  own,  and  I  laugh  at  them  whenever 
I  canB 

A  third  characteristic,  which  is  the  result  of  genius 
alone,  is  her  dainty  sense  of  selection.  She  never  gives, 
anything  redundant  either  in  the  actions  or  words  of 
her  characters,  just  enough  is  said  or  done  to  reveal  the 
people  themselves  to  us.  One  has  only  to  think  of 
writers  deficient  in  this  quality  to  realise  how  essential 
it  is  to  enjoyment.  In  Miss  Ferrier's  Marriage^  for 
instance,  there  are  good  and  striking  scenes,  but  in  her 
conversations  she  never  knows  when  to  stop,  the  tedious 
long-winded  sentences  have  to  be  skipped  in  order  to 
get  on  with  the  story.  The  art  of  selection  is  that 
which  distinguishes  real  dramatic  talent  from  photo- 
graphic realism.  'mTo  be  able  to  put  down  on  paper 
exactly  what  average  people  say  is  certainly  a  gift,  for 
few  can  do  it,  but  a  far  higher  gift  is  to  select  and 
combine  just  those  speeches  and  actions  which  give 
the  desired  effect  without  leaving  any  sense  of  omission 
or  incompletenessTl  Jane  Austen  had  the  power  also  of 
giving  a  flash  of  insight  into  a  state  of  mind  or  a 
personal  feeling  in  a  few  words  more  than  any  writer . 
before  or  since.  It  is  one  of  her  strongest  points. 
Take  for  example  that  scene  when  Henry  Tilney 
instructing  Catherine  "  talked  of  foregrounds,  distances, 
and  second  distances ;  side  screens  and  perspectives ; 
lights  and  shades ;  and  Catherine  was  so  hopeful  a 
scholar,  that  when  they  gained  the  top  of  Beechen  Cliff, 
she  voluntarily  rejected  the  whole  city  of  Bath  as  un- 
worthy to  make  part  of  the  landscape  "  ;  or  the  opening 
sentences  of  Mansfield  Park.  "  Miss  Maria  Ward  of 
Huntingdon,  with  only  seven  thousand  pounds,  had  the 
good  luck  to  captivate  Sir  Thomas  Bertram  of  Mansfield 
Park,  in  the  county  of  Northampton,  and  to  be  thereby 


THE  NOVELS  83 

raised  to  the  rank  of  a  baronet's  lady,  with  all  the 
comforts  and  consequences  of  a  handsome  house  and 
large  income.  All  Huntingdon  exclaimed  on  the  great- 
ness of  the  match ;  and  her  uncle,  the  lawyer,  himself, 
allowed  her  to  be  at  least  three  thousand  pounds  short 
^  of  any  equitable  claim  to  it." 

It  is  by  touches  such  as  these  that  the  characters 
are  made  to  live  before  us,  Jane  never  condescends  to  the 
device  of  tricks  which  Dickens  allowed  himself  to  use 
with  such  wearisome  iteration ;  we  have  none  of  "  the 
moustache  went  up  and  the  nose  came  down "  style. 
It  is  by  a  perfect  perspective,  by  light  touches  given 
with  admirable  effect,  that  we  know  the  difference 
between  Fanny  Price  and  Anne  Elliot,  both  good, 
sweet,  retiring  girls ;  or  between  Elinor  Dashwood  and 
Emma  Woodhouse,  who  both  had  the  generosity  of 
character  to  sympathise  with  another's  love  affairs  while 
hiding  their  own.  Henry  Tilney  and  Edmund  Crawford 
were  both  young  clergymen  of  a  priggish  type,  but 
Henry's  didactic  reflections  are  not  in  the  least  the 
same  as  those  which  Edmund  would  have  uttered. 

The  silliness  of  Mrs.  Palmer,  with  her  final  summary 
on  the  recreant  Willoughby,  '^  She  was  determined  to 
drop  his  acquaintance  immediately,  and  she  was  very 
thankful  she  had  never  been  acquainted  with  him  at  all. 
She  wished  with  all  her  heart  Combe  Magna  was  not 
so  near  Cleveland,  but  it  did  not  signify  for  it  was  a 
great  deal  too  far  off  to  visit ;  she  hated  him  so  much 
that  she  was  resolved  never  to  mention  his  name  again, 
and  she  should  tell  everyone  she  saw  how  good  for 
nothing  he  was,"  is  entirely  different  from  the  continuous 
weak  outpourings  of  poor  little  Miss  Bates.  "  And 
when  I  brought  out  the  baked  apples  from  the  closet, 
and  hoped  our  friends  would  be  so  very  obliging  as  to 
take    some,    '  Oh,'   said    he    directly,  *  there    is   nothing 


84  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

in  the  way  of  fruit  half  so  good,  and  these  are  the  finest 
looking  home-baked  apples  I  ever  saw  in  my  life.' 
That,  you  know,  was  so  very —  And  I  am  sure  by  his 
manner  it  was  no  compliment.  Indeed,  they  are  very 
delightful  apples,  and  Mrs.  Wallis  does  them  full  justice, 
only  we  do  not  have  them  baked  more  than  twice,  and 
Mr.  Woodhouse  made  us  promise  to  have  them  done 
three  times ;  but  Miss  Woodhouse  will  be  so  good  as 
not  to  mention  it.  The  apples  themselves  are  the  very 
finest  sort  for  baking  beyond  a  doubt — "  and  so  on  and 
so  on  for  a  page  or  more. 

I  The  truth  is  that  Jane  Austen  seized  on  qualities 
which  are  frequently  found  in  human  nature,  and 
developed  them  with  such  fidelity  that  nearly  all  of 
us  feel  that  we  have  at  one  time  or  another  met  a 
Miss  Bates  or  a  Mrs.  Norris,  or  that  we  can  see  traits 
in  others  which  resemble  theirs ;  it  is  this  which  makes 
the  appeal  to  all  humanity.  She  did  not  take  one 
person  out  of  her  acquaintance  and  depictJiim  or  her, 
but  represented,  in  characters  of  her  own  creating, 
these  salient  traits  which  will  ever  revive  perennially 
while  men  and  women  exist.  / 

Lord  Macaulay  does  not  h^'sitate  to  speak  of  Jane 
in  the  same  breath  with  Shakespeare.  "  Shakespeare 
has  had  neither  equal  nor  second,  but  among  the 
writers  who  have  approached  nearest  to  the  manner 
of  the  great  Master,  we  have  no  hesitation  in  placing 
Jane  Austen,  a  woman  of  whom  England  is  justly 
proud.  She  has  given  us  a  multitude  of  characters, 
all,  in  a  certain  sense,  commonplace,  all  such  as  we 
meet  every  day,  yet  they  are  all  as  perfectly  dis- 
criminated from  each  other  a§  if  they  were  the  most 
eccentric  of  human  beings."  (And  Archbishop  Whateley 
makes  the  suggestb^e  remark,  "It  is  no  fool  that  can 
describe  fools  well/J 


THE  NOVELS  8s 

Before  the  birth  of  Jane  Austen,  the  novel,  which  had 
been  hardly  considered  in  England  for  many  centuries, 
had  suddenly  found  a  quartette  of  exponents  which  had 
placed  the  country  in  the  foremost  rank  of  this  branch. 

It  is  rare  indeed  that  four  such  men  as  Richardson, 
Fielding,  Smollett,  and  Sterne,  with  powers  of  imagin- 
ation which  make  their  work  classic,  should  be  evolved 
at  the  same  date.  It  would  almost  seem  as  if  the 
theory  which  declares  that  the  world,  in  its  onward 
rush  through  space,  passes  through  regions  impregnated 
with  certain  forms  of  ether  that  affect  men's  minds, 
must  have  some  grain  of  truth,  when  simultaneously 
there  leaped  forth  four  exponents  and  first  masters  of 
an  art  that  hitherto  can  hardly  have  been  said  to 
exist.  The  united  scope  of  their  four  lives  ranged 
from  1689  to  1 77 1,  and  between  these  dates  England 
was  enriched  for  all  time. 

With  these  four  Jane  Austen's  work  has  little  in 
common.  It  is  to  Richardson  only  that  her  novels 
owe  anything,  and  they  differ  from  Richardson's  in 
many  striking  particulars. 

Apart  from  the  masters  already  mentioned,  "  A 
greater  mass  of  trash  and  rubbish  never  disgraced  the 
press  of  any  country  than  the  ordinary  novels  that 
filled  and  supported  circulating  libraries  down  nearly 
to  the  time  of  Miss  Edgeworth's  first  appearance. 
There  had  been  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield^  to  be  sure, 
before,  and  Miss  Burney's  Evelina  and  Cecilia^  and 
Mackenzie's  Man  of  Feelings  and  some  bolder  and 
more  varied  fictions  of  the  Misses  Lee.  But  the 
staple  of  our  novel  market  was  beyond  imagination 
despicable,  and  had  consequently  sunk  and  degraded 
the  whole  department  of  literature  of  which  it  had 
usurped  the  name."     (Jeffrey,  Essays,  Ed.  1853.) 

And  Macaulay  says :  "  Most  of  the  popular  novels 


86  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

/ 

which  preceded  Evelina  were  such  as  no  lady  would 
have  written,  and  many  of  them  were  such  as  no 
lady  could  without  confusion  own  that  she  had  read. 
The  very  name  of  novel  was  held  in  horror  among 
religious  people.  In  decent  families  which  did  not 
profess  extraordinary  sanctity,  there  was  a  strong 
feeling  against  all  such  works.  Sir  Anthony  Absolute, 
two  or  three  years  before  Evelina  appeared,  spoke  the 
sense  of  the  great  body  of  sober  fathers  and  husbands, 
when  he  pronounced  the  circulating  library  an  ever- 
green tree  of  diabolical  knowledge.  This  feeling  on 
the  part  of  the  grave  and  reflecting,  increased  the 
evil  from  which  it  had  sprung.  The  novelist,  having 
little  character  to  lose,  and  having  few  readers  among 
serious  people,  took,  without  scruple,  liberties  which, 
in  our  generation,  seem  almost  incredible." 

The  effect  that  Miss  Burney's  stories  had  upon 
contemporary  readers  may  be  judged  from  a  letter  of 
Mr.  Twining,  a  country  clergyman  of  education  and 
standing,  who  wrote  in  1782  to  her  father.  Dr.  Burney: 
"  I  need  not  tell  you  that  I  gobbled  up  Cecilia  as  soon 
as  I  could  get  it  from  my  library.  I  never  knew  such 
a  piece  of  work  made  with  a  book  in  my  life.  It  has 
drawn  iron  tears  down  cheeks  that  were  never  wetted 
with  pity  before ;  it  has  made  novel  readers  of  callous 
old  maiden  ladies,  who  have  not  for  years  received 
pleasure  from  anything  but  scandal.  Judge,  then, 
what  effect  it  has  had  upon  the  young  and  the  tender 
hearted !  I  know  two  amiable  sisters  at  Colchester, 
sensible  and  accomplished  women,  who  were  found 
blubbering  at  such  a  rate  one  morning !  The  tale 
had  drawn  them  on  till  near  the  hour  of  an  engage- 
ment to  dinner,  which  they  were  actually  obliged  to 
put  off,  because  there  was  not  time  to  recover  their 
red  eyes  and  swelled  noses." 


THE  NOVELS  87 

Miss  Burney's  works  are  real  enough,  and  not 
lightly  to  be  dismissed ;  she  understood  the  human 
heart,  and  especially  the  heart  of  a  girl,  her  sentimental 
side  is  perfect,  but  beyond  that  she  ceases  to  claim 
anything  out  of  the  common.  Her  society  types  are 
types  only ;  the  gay  young  man,  a  rake,  but  charming 
at  heart,  whose  excesses  were  but  the  wildness  of  an 
ill-brought-up  youth,  had  been  drawn  many  times  before. 
When  she  goes  beyond  affairs  of  the  heart  she  at  once 
caricatures ;  her  Captain  and  Mrs.  Duval  are  gross  and 
overdrawn  even  according  to  the  manners  of  the  age. 

Miss  Burney  preceded  Jane  Austen  by  several  years; 
Evelina  was  published  in  1778,  when  the  sister-author 
was  but  three  years  old ;  Cecilia  came  out  four  years 
later,  and  Camilla  in  1796,  the  same  year  in  which 
Pride  and  Prejudice  was  written,  though  it  was  not 
published  until  181 3.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Jane 
Austen  owed  much  to  her  rival  and  predecessor,  but 
her  gifts  were  incomparably  the  greater.  Miss  Burney's 
cleverness  consisted  in  the  portrayal  of  feeling  in  a 
young  girl's  sensitive  mind,  her  stories  are  stories  of 
fashion  and  incidentj0ane  Austen's  are  of  country  life, 
and  simple  .everyday  scenes.^  The  one  had  its  vogue, 
and,  as  an  account  of  contemporary  manners,  the  books 
have  their  value  and  delight  now,  especially  Evelina, 
which  stands  high  above  its  successors,  each  one  of 
which  is  poorer  than  the  preceding  one ;  but  none  are 
to  be  compared  with  any  of  Jane  Austen's  novels, 
which  are  for  all  time. 

"  Miss  Edgeworth  indeed  draws  characters  and 
details  conversations  such  as  occur  in  real  life  with 
a  spirit  of  fidelity  not  to  be  surpassed ;  but  her  stories 
are  most  romantically  improbable,  all  the  important 
events  in  them  being  brought  about  by  most  providential 
coincidences."     (Archbishop  Whateley.) 


SB  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

It  was  a  transition  age  from  the  conventional  to 
the  natural ;  as  in  the  admiration  of  landscape,  the 
love  for  natural  gardens,  the  gradual  disappearance  of 
the  formal  and  empty  compliment  to  which  women 
had  hitherto  been  treated,  we  find  taste  changing,  so 
in  literature  the  conventional  was  giving  way  to  the 
natural.  Fielding  and  Smollett  had  broken  down  the 
barriers  in  this  respect,  they  had  depicted  life  as  it 
was,  not  as  convention  had  decreed  it  should  be, 
hence  their  gigantic  success;  but  the  life  they  saw 
and  rendered  was  the  life  of  a  man  of  the  world, 
with  all  its  roughness  and  brutality.  Jane  Austen 
was  the  first  to  draw  exactly  what  she  saw  around 
her  in  a  humdrum  country  life,  and  to  discard  all 
incident,  all  adventure,  all  grotesque  types,  for  perfect 
simplicity.  She  little  understood  what  she  was  doing, 
but  herein  lies  her  wonderful  power,  she  was  a  pioneer. 
Jane's  writing  had  nothing  in  common  with  Mrs. 
Radcliffe,  whose  style  is  mimicked  in  Northanger 
Abbey.  It  had  absolutely  no  adventures.  The  fall 
of  Louisa  on  the  Cobb  is  perhaps  the  most  thrilling 
episode  in  all  the  books,  yet  by  virtue  of  its  entire 
simplicity,  its  naturalness,  its  gaiety,  her  writing  never 
fails  to  interest.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  tribute 
to  her  genius  lies  in  the  fact  that,  though  her  books 
are  simplicity  itself,  dealing  with  the  love-stories  of 
artless  girls,  they  are  read  and  admired  not  only  by 
girls  and  women,  but  more  especially  by  men  of 
exceptional  mental  calibre.  It  has  been  said  that 
the  appreciation  of  them  is  a  test  of  intellect. 

Though  her  novels  are  novels  of  sentiment,  they 
never  drift  into  sickly  sentiment,  they  are  wholesome 
and  healthy  throughout.  With  tragedy  she  had  nothing 
to  do ;  her  work  is  comedy,  pure  comedy  from  beginning 
to    end.     And    as    comedies   well    done    are   the    most 


THE  NOVELS  89 

recreative  of  all  forms  of  reading,  it  is  no  wonder  that, 
slight  as  are  her  plots,  hardly  to  be  considered,  minute 
as  are  the  incidents,  the  attention  of  readers  should  ever 
be  kept  alive.  In  all  her  books  marriage  is  the  supreme 
end ;  the  meeting,  the  obstacles,  the  gradual  surmount- 
ing of  these,  and  the  happy  ending  occur  with  the 
regularity  of  clockwork.  And  yet  each  one  differs  from 
all  the  others,  and  she  is  never  monotonous.  Every 
single  book  ends  well,  and  it  is  a  striking  fact  that  there 
is  not  a  death  in  one  of  them.  When,  after  a  slight 
improvement,  Marianne,  in  Sense  and  Sensibility y  grows 
worse — 

"  The  repose  of  the  latter  [Marianne]  grew  more  and 
more  disturbed ;  and  her  sister  who  watched  with 
unremitting  attention  her  continual  change  of  posture, 
and  heard  the  frequent  but  inarticulate  sounds  of  com- 
plaint which  passed  her  lips,  was  most  wishing  to  rouse 
her  from  so  painful  a  slumber,  when  Marianne,  awakened 
by  some  accidental  noise  in  the  house,  started  hastily 
up,  and,  with  feverish  wildness  cried  out,  *  Is  mamma 
coming  ?  '  .  .  .  Hour  after  hour  passed  away  in  sleepless 
pain  and  delirium  on  Marianne's  side,  and  in  the  most 
cruel  anxiety  on  Elinor's,"  we  know  that  in  most  books 
we  should  expect  the  worst,  but  with  Jane  Austen  we  are 
sure  that  it  will  all  turn  out  well,  as  indeed  it  does,  and 
our  feelings  are  not  unduly  harrowed. 

One  point  which  is  obvious  in  all  the  books  is  the 
utter  lack  of  conversation,  except  about  the  merest 
trivialities,  among  women.  In  Sense  and  Sensibility  it 
is  remarked  of  a  dinner  given  by  John  Dashwood  that 
"  no  poverty  of  any  kind,  except  of  conversation, 
appeared.  .  .  .  When  the  ladies  withdrew  to  the 
drawing-room  after  dinner,  this  poverty  was  particularly 
evident,  for  the  gentlemen  had  supplied  the  discourse 
with    some    variety — the    variety    of   politics,  enclosing 


90  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

land,  and  breaking  horses — but  then  it  was  all  over,  and 
one  subject  only  engaged  the  ladies  till  coffee  came  in, 
which  was  the  comparative  height  of  Harry  Dashwood, 
and  Lady  Middleton's  second  son,  William,  who  were 
nearly  of  the  same  age  .  .  .  the  two  mothers  though 
each  really  convinced  that  her  own  son  was  the  taller, 
politely  decided  in  favour  of  the  other.  The  two  grand- 
mothers with  not  less  partiality,  but  more  sincerity,  were 
equally  earnest  in  support  of  their  own  descendant." 

The  Christian  names  of  that  date  were  plain,  and, 
for  women,  strictly  limited  in  number ;  it  detracts  some- 
thing from  a  heroine  to  be  called  Fanny  Price  or  Anne 
Elliot ;  and  Emma  Woodhouse  and  Elizabeth  Bennet 
are  little  better;  Elinor  and  Marianne  Dashwood  are 
the  most  fancy  names  applied  by  Jane  to  any  of  her 
heroines. 

Another  point  which  may  be  noticed  in  the  novels 
is  that  the  outward  forms  of  religion,  beyond  the  fact  of 
a  man's  being  a  clergyman,  are  never  mentioned,  and 
that  on  all  religious  matters  Jane  is  silent ;  but  this  does 
not  signify  that  she  was  not  herself  truly  religious  at 
heart,  for  we  have  the  testimony  of  those  who  knew  her 
to  the  contrary,  particularly  that  of  her  brother  Henry 
in  his  preface  prefixed  to  the  first  edition  of  Northanger 
Abbey ^  published  after  her  death. j_But  though  actual 
religion  does  not  appear  in  her  pages,  the  lessons  that 
the  books  teach  are  none  the  less  enforced ;  had  she 
been  taking  for  her  sole  text  the  merit  of  unselfishness, 
she  could  not  have  done  more,  or  indeed  half  so  much, 
to  further  the  spread  of  that  virtue.  To  read  the  books 
straight  through  one  after  the  other  is  to  feel  the  petty 
meanness  of  self-striving,  and  the  small  gain  that  lies 
therein.  ?  The  talk  of  the  mammas,  such  as  Mrs.  Bennet, 
who  are  perfectly  incapable  of  seeing  their  neighbours' 
interest  should  it  clash  with  their  own;  the  picture  of 


THE  NOVELS  91 

the  egregious  Mrs.  Norris  with  her  grasping  at  the 
aspect  of  generosity  and  self-sacrifice,  without  any 
intention  of  putting  herself  to  any  inconvenience  thereby  ; 
the  weakness  of  such  characters  as  Willoughby  in  Sense 
and  Sensibility,  who  allow  themselves  to  drift  along  the 
lines  of  least  resistance  without  a  thought  of  the  after 
misery  they  may  cause :  each  and  all  of  these  are  more 
potent  than  a  volume  of  sermons. 

•'^  It  may  be  noted  that  Jane  Austen  chose  her 
characters  from  the  class  of  life  in  which  she  herself 
lived,  we  meet  in  her  pages  no  dukes  or  duchesses,  and 
"only  a  few  slightly  sketched  labourers  and  gardeners, 
who  are  brought  in  when  inevitable ;  the  story  itself  is 
concerned  with  people  of  the  middle  classes,  the  squires 
and  country  gentlemen,  the  clergymen,  and  upper-class 
prosperous  tradespeople.  We  have  no  inimitable  rustics 
as  in  George  Eliot's  wonderful  books,  nor  any  disreput- 
able knaves  of  the  fashionable  rich  as  in  Miss  Burney's 
works.  It  is,  however,  a  remarkable  fact  that  all  the 
mankind  are  always  at  leisure  to  picnic  and  dance 
attendance  on  the  ladies  at  any  hour  of  the  day ;  we 
have  no  business  men ;  rides  and  excursions  and  picnics 
are  always  provided  with  a  full  complement  of  idle  young 
men  to  match  the  young  women.  To  this  rule  the 
clergymen  are,  of  course,  no  exception. 

There  was  a  particular  sort  of  country  gentleman 
who  seemed  to  flourish  in  those  days,  of  the  type  of  Mr. 
Knightley  and  Mr.  Bennet.  These  men  did  not  own 
enough  land  to  call  themselves  squires,  their  farming 
was  very  slight,  they  owned  a  secure  fortune  in  some 
safe  investment,  and  apparently  spent  their  lives  in  the 
insipid  avocations  which,  until  recently,  were  the  lot  of 
nearly  all  men  who  were  neither  rich  nor  poor.  They 
played  cards,  and  rode  and  saw  their  neighbours,  and 
read  the  newspapers,  without  seeming  to  feel  their  time 


92  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

hang  at  all  heavy  on  their  hands.  This  breed  seems 
almost  extinct  now,  we  are  all  too  excitable,  and  live 
too  rapidly  to  make  it  possible.  A  man  with  such  an 
income  as  either  of  the  two  mentioned  would  almost 
certainly  travel,  or  take  up  some  special  hobby ;  he 
would  be  a  social  reformer,  or  on  his  County  Council,  a 
J.P.,  a  M.F.H.,  or  something  of  the  kind,  with  occupa- 
tions varied  enough  to  afford  him  some  apology  for  his 
existence. 

The  lowest  of  what  may  be  called  Jane  Austen^s 
speaking  parts  are  filled  by  well-to-do  tradesmen,  or 
people  just  emerging  from  trade,  as  the  Gardeners  in 
Pride  and  Prejudice^  who  still  lived  at  the  business  house 
in  Gracechurch  Street ;  for  it  was  a  time  when  house 
and  shop  were  not  divided. 

Her  characters  are  all  supposed  to  be  gentlepeople, 
but  there  is  a  difference  between  those  who  are  of  better 
family  than  others,  such  as  Bingley,  who  condescends  in 
marrying  Jane  Bennet.  There  is  one  point  on  which  I 
venture  to  disagree  with  Mr.  Pollock,  who,  in  his  extremely 
suggestive  and  interesting  book  on  Jane  Austen  and  her 
Contemporaries^  says — 

*'  Comment  has  been  made,  and  justly  made,  on  the 
perfect  breeding  and  manners  of  those  people  in  Miss 
Austen's  novels  who  are  supposed  and  intended  to  be 
well-bred." 

On  the  contrary,  to  go  no  further  that  Pride  and 
Prejudice^  Darcy  himself  passes  every  canon  of  gentle- 
manly conduct,  and  the  Misses  Bingley,  who  were 
supposed  to  be  of  irreproachable  breeding,  betray 
vulgarity  and  lack  of  courtesy  in  every  sentence.  The 
observations  of  Miss  Bingley  on  Elizabeth  and  Darcy 
would  disgrace  a  kitchen-maid.  When  Darcy  has 
danced  once  with  Elizabeth,  Miss  Bingley  draws  near 
to  him,  and  observes  of  the  society  she  is  in — 


THE  NOVELS  93 

"  *  You  are  considering  how  insupportable  it  would  be 
to  pass  many  evenings  in  this  manner — in  this  society, 
and  indeed  I  am  quite  of  your  opinion.  I  never  was 
more  annoyed.  The  insipidity  and  yet  the  noise — the 
nothingness  and  yet  the  self-importance  of  all  these 
people  !  What  would  I  give  to  hear  your  strictures  on 
them  ! ' 

"  *  Your  conjecture  is  totally  wrong,  I  assure  you. 
My  mind  was  more  agreeably  engaged.  I  have  been 
meditating  on  the  very  great  pleasure  which  a  pair  of 
fine  eyes  in  the  face  of  a  pretty  woman  can  bestow ! ' 

"  Miss  Bingley  immediately  fixed  her  eyes  on  his 
face,  and  desired  he  would  tell  her  what  lady  had  the 
credit  of  inspiring  such  reflections.  Mr.  Darcy  replied 
with  great  intrepidity,  *  Miss  Elizabeth  Bennet ! ' 

"  *  Miss  Elizabeth  Bennet ! '  repeated  Miss  Bingley, 
*  I  am  all  astonishment.  How  long  has  she  been  such 
a  favourite  ?      And  pray  when  am  I  to  wish  you  joy  ?  ' 

"  *  That  is  exactly  the  question  which  I  expected 
you  to  ask.  A  lady's  imagination  is  very  rapid ;  it 
jumps  from  admiration  to  love,  from  love  to  matrimony 
in  a  moment.      I  knew  you  would  be  wishing  me  joy.' 

"'Nay,  if  you  are  so  serious  about  it,  I  shall  consider 
the  matter  as  absolutely  settled.  You  will  have  a 
charming  mother-in-law  indeed,  and  of  course  she  will 
always  be  at  Pemberley  with  you.'  " 

The  insolence  of  Lady  Catherine  de  Bourgh  might 
be  adduced  as  a  second  example  from  the  same  book. 
These  people  are  well  born  and  well  bred,  but  their 
manners  and  conduct  are  impossible.  It  may  be  alleged 
that  they  were  intended  so  to  be.  Probably ;  but  that 
does  not  do  away  with  the  fact  that  the  well-bred 
people  in  the  books  are  not  always  free  from  vulgarity, 
which  was  the  contention  with  which  we  started.  They 
might  have  been  made  disagreeable  in  a  hundred  other 


94  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

ways,  had  Miss  Austen  so  chosen,  without  violating  all 
ordinary  rules  of  conduct. 

It  is  greatly  to  the  author's  credit,  and  speaks  of 
her  refinement  of  mind,  that  in  an  age  when  coarseness  of 
every  sort  was  rampant,  her  books  should  be  free  from 
a  whisper  of  it.  We  of  this  present  generation  hardly 
realise  how  vice  was  countenanced  in  the  days  of  the 
Georges ;  well  indeed  was  it  for  England  that  males  of 
that  line  died  out,  so  that  the  heir  to  the  throne  was  a 
girl-child,  for  during  her  long  reign  the  example  which 
the  court  set,  and  which  the  inferiors  were  quick  to  copy, 
was  altered  altogether.  George  the  Third  himself,  who 
occupied  the  throne  during  the  whole  of  Jane  Austen's 
life,  was  a  happy  exception  among  the  Hanoverian 
sovereigns,  but  the  excesses  of  his  sons  were  notorious. 

Even  the  Duke  of  Kent,  the  best  of  them,  accepts 
a  left-handed  alliance  as  inevitable,  to  say  nothing  of 
worse.  In  writing  familiarly  to  Mr.  Creevey  after  the 
death  of  Princess  Charlotte,  he  says — 

"  The  Duke  of  Clarence,  I  have  no  doubt,  will 
marry  if  he  can — he  demands  the  payment  of  all  his 
debts,  which  are  very  great,  and  a  handsome  provision 
for  his  ten  natural  children — God  only  knows  the 
sacrifice  it  will  be  to  make,  whenever  I  shall  think  it  my 
duty  to  become  a  married  man.  It  is  now  seven  and 
twenty  years  that  Madame  St.  Laurent  and  I  have  lived 
together ;  we  are  of  the  same  age,  have  been  in  all 
climates  and  all  difficulties  together,  and  you  may  well 
imagine,  Mr.  Creevey,  the  pang  it  will  be  to  part  with 
her."      {The  Creevey  Correspondence.) 

The  irregular  unions  of  princes  of  the  blood  are 
unfortunately  an  accepted  fact,  but  the  epoch  in  which 
such  things  were  done  in  broad  daylight  was  one  in 
which  libertinism  of  all  kinds  was  rampant.  It  was  an 
age   also  of  excessive   drunkenness,  the   Prince  Regent 


THE  NOVELS  95 

frequently  appeared  in  public  hardly  able  to  stand. 
Creevey  records  that  the  prince  "  drank  so  much  as  to 
be  made  very  seriously  ill  by  it " ;  he  says  also,  as  if  it 
were  a  thing  to  wonder  at,  "  It  is  reckoned  very 
disgraceful  in  Russia  for  the  higher  orders  to  be  drunk." 

The  books  of  Smollett  and  Fielding  had  inculcated 
the  general  belief  that  indecency  and  interest  in  a  novel 
were  inseparable,  and  it  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  Miss 
Burney  and  Miss  Austen  that  their  writings  were  of  an 
entirely  different  tone. 

Sir  Walter  Besant  writes  :  "  I  do  not  wish  to  represent 
the  eighteenth  century  as  much  worse  than  our  own  in 
the  matter  of  what  is  called  morality,  meaning  one  kind 
of  morality.  The  *  great '  were  allowed  to  be  above  the 
ordinary  restraints  of  morality.  A  certain  noble  lord 
travelled  with  a  harem  of  eight,  which  was,  however,  con- 
sidered scandalous."     {London  in  the  Eighteenth  Century?) 

No  whisper  of  these  things  stains  Jane  Austen's 
pages.  sAnd  her  clear,  unaffected  view  of  middle-class 
life  in  snialLiown^-and-  villages  -was-4r«e  and-  fK>t-4deal- 
ised,  for  these  people  were  then^  as  they  sjtLll .  are,  the 
salt  of  the  jworld,  neither  apeing  the  fantastic  vices  of 
the  upper,  nor  the  abandoned  coarseness  of  the  lower 
classes.  They  were  respectable  and  sometimes  hum- 
drum. They  suffered  from -monotony,  not  dissipation. 
That  anyone  should  have  been  able  to  extract  so  much 
pure  fun  from  such  slight  materials  is  ever  matter  for 
wonder.  She  did  it  by  her  marvellously  close  observa- 
tion and  power  of  selection,  qualities  which  are  a  gift. 
She  was  far  more  true  to  human  nature  than  the  super- 
ficial reader  knows,  perhaps  than  she  herself  knew,  for  it 
is  a  trait  of  genius  to  do  by  the  light  of  nature  what 
other  people  must  set  about  laboriously  and  ever  fall 
short  of  attaining.  When  we  notice  Mr.  Bennet's 
caustic  humour  reappearing  in  more  genial  form  in  his 


96  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

second  daughter,  there  is  one  of  those  little  touches  that 
binds  the  characters  together — the  touch  of  heredity. 

Another  instance  is  in  the  case  of  Lady  Middleton, 
who  obviously  had  not  married  either  for  love  or  for 
suitability,  but  only  for  convenience ;  she  is  a  cold 
woman,  incapable  of  passion  in  the  usual  sense,  but  her 
nature  breaks  out  in  an  adoration  of  her  children  which 
is  neither  for  their  benefit  nor  for  hers.  We  see  this 
again  and  again  in  real  life ;  it  is  the  cold,  unloving 
wives  who  idolise  their  children  because  they  are 
theirs,  a  feeling  which  is  not  real  love  but  a  kind  of 
extended  selfishness,  an  instinct  which,  in  the  case  of 
animals,  finds  expression  in  licking  their  young. 
The  books  abound  in  similar  true  touches,  put  in 
apparently  without  effort,  and  almost  without  thought. 
When  one  considers  that  out  of  the  mass  of  novels  of 
that  age,  then,  as  now,  circulated  and  read  by  the  aid 
of  libraries,  such  books  as  Hannah  More's  Ccelebs  in 
Search  of  a  Wife  and  Mackenzie's  Man  of  Feeling  and 
Man  of  the  World  were  read  and  praised  almost  univers- 
ally as  being  far  superior  to  the  usual  run  of  novels, 
one  gains  some  idea  of  the  poverty  of  matter  and 
manner  that  must  have  disgraced  the  ruck.  Both  these 
"  masterpieces,"  so  acclaimed  as  they  were  issued,  are 
the  dullest,  driest  stuff,  without  a  gleam  of  humour,  any 
attempt  at  a  story,  or  any  vivacity  of  expression  or 
character.  The  general  style  is,  "  Mr.  and  Mrs.  So-and- 
So  are  to-day  expected.  Mr.  So-and-So  is  a  pious, 
virtuous  man,  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  say  so  much  for  his 
wife,"  and  thereupon  follows  a  long  verbose  description 
of  the  two,  who  when  they  appear  on  the  scene  do  and 
say  nothing  to  indicate  any  characteristics,  but  are  mere 
dummies,  pegs  on  which  to  hang  the  discourse  that 
precedes  their  entry.  A  favourite  device  for  filling  up 
the  pages  that  must  be  filled,  is  the  narration  by  some 


MISS   RURNEV 

(madamk  d'arblav) 


THE  NOVELS  97 

secondary  character  of  all  that  has  ever  befallen  them 
since  their  birth.  Even  Miss  Burney  is  not  free  from 
this  ;  in  Cecilia  at  least  the  characters  break  into  narration 
as  easily  as  some  persons  do  into  song.  With  this  kind 
of  stuff  to  set  the  standard,  the  miracle  of  Jane's  books 
becomes  more  admirable  than  ever,  for  anyone  who  has 
ever  attempted  to  write  knows  how  exceedingly  difficult 
it  is  to  resis''  the  influence  of  the  conventional  canons 
in  vogue. 

"Jane  Austen  seems  to  have  been  also  as  far  ahead  of 
her  time  in  the  use  of  simple  direct  English  as  she  was  in 
construction  and  effect.  She  is  at  least  a  generation  in 
advance  of  average  contemporary  letters  and  journals,  in 
which  the  phrasing  is  often  ponderous ;  the  sonorous  roll 
of  heavily-weighted  sentences  in  the  Johnsonian  style, 
then  so  much  admired,  does  not  ever  seem  to  have 
occurred  to  her.  ' 

Yet  even  in  her  lively,  crisp  narration  there  are  a  few 
phrases  that  strike  on  a  modern  ear  as  unaccustomed. 
Such  is  the  use  of  the  active  for  the  passive  tense,  "  tea 
was  carrying  round  "  ;  the  elision  of  the  final  "  n  "  in  the 
infinitive,  "  but  she  said  he  seemed  very  angry  at  being 
spoke  to " ;  the  use  of  adjectives  for  adverbs  (often 
reproved  as  a  form  of  slang  in  the  present  day),  "  she 
must  feel  she  has  been  acting  wrong."  The  general  use 
of  men's  surnames  by  women  occurs  in  the  earlier  books, 
but  we  see  an  indication  of  change  in  this  respect  in  the 
passage  of  Jane's  lifetime,  for  in  Emma  it  is  considered 
vulgar  of  Mrs.  Elton  to  address  Mr.  Knightley  without 
the  prefix.  There  are  little  ways  of  expressing  things 
that  are  not  now  in  vogue,  men  are  "  gentlemanlike," 
ladies  "  amiable,"  also  "  genteel  and  elegant " ;  one 
phrase  which  has  now  descended  to  the  realm  of  the 
lady's-maid  was  then  quite  good  English,  *'  so  peculiarly 
the  lady  in  it."  "  Excessively  "  takes  the  place  of  our 
7 


98  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

"  awfully,"  we  hear  continually  such  expressions  as 
''monstrous  obliging,"  "prodigious  pretty,"  and  "vastly 
civil." 

We  have  not  hitherto  noticed  Miss  Edgeworth's, 
Miss  Ferrier's,  or  Miss  Mitford's  work,  though  they  are 
generally  considered  as  belonging  to  the  clever  group  of 
women  writers  who  illumined  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
and  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  centuries,  because  in  this 
chapter  we  are  dealing  only  with  Jane  Austen's  own 
novels,  not  with  contemporary  writers  except  as  they 
affected  her,  and  at  the  time  when  she  wrote  her  first 
books  none  of  these  writers  had  published  anything,  and 
could  not  therefore  possibly  have  influenced  her.  Miss 
Edgeworth's  first  novel.  Castle  Rackrent^  came  out  in 
1800,  and  Miss  Ferrier's  Marriage  in  181 8,  after  Jane 
was  in  her  grave. 

Jane  Austen's  own  novels  were  written  at  such 
widely  differing  times,  and  the  interval  between  writing 
and  publication  was  so  great  in  some  cases,  that  the 
subject  suffers  from  some  confusion  in  the  minds  of 
those  who  have  not  looked  into  the  question  closely. 
As  the  order  of  writing  is  everything,  and  the  order  of 
publication  a  mere  accident,  we  will  take  them  as  they 
were  written.  This  was  in  two  groups  of  three  each. 
Pride  and  Prejudice  was  begun  in  October  1796  and 
finished  the  following  August ;  Sense  and  Sensibility  was 
begun  in  1797  and  finished  in  1798,  in  which  year 
Northanger  Abbey  was  also  written.  Then  there  was  a 
long  gap,  in  which  she  produced  only  a  fragment  to  be 
noted  hereafter,  and  not  until  1 8 1  2  was  Mansfield  Park 
written  ;  four  years  later,  in  1816,  came  Emma,  quickly 
followed  by  Persuasion.  Of  all  these  the  first  to  be 
published  was  Sense  and  Sensibility  in  1 8 1 1 ,  and  the 
dates  of  publication  will  thereafter  be  noted  in  chrono- 
logical order  in  the  book  as  it  progresses. 


THE  NOVELS  99 

Besides  these  two  distinct  groups  of  three  novels 
each,  there  is  another  of  the  unfinished  fragments,  which 
never  became  real  stories.  These  consist  of  Lady  Susatiy 
a  comedy  in  the  form  of  letters,  which  is  ended  up 
hastily  with  a  few  paragraphs  of  explanation ;  and  The 
Watsons,  an  unfinished  tale,  of  which  the  end  was  told 
by  Cassandra  Austen  from  remarks  that  her  sister  had 
made.  Both  of  these  are  included,  as  has  been  said,  in 
Mr.  Austen-Leigh's  Memoir^  and  it  seems  a  pity  that 
they  should  not  form  a  volume  in  one  of  the  neat  series 
of  Jane  Austen's  novels  now  published,  as  to  a  real 
Austenite  they  contain  much  that  is  valuable,  and  are  full 
of  characteristic  touches.  Of  the  complete  novels  Pride 
and  Prejudice  is  admittedly  the  best ;  there  are  several 
candidates  for  the  second  place,  but  the  superiority  of 
Pride  and  Prejudice  is  unquestioned.  It  was  the  earliest  of 
the  books  written,  under  the  \SS\q  First  Impressions,  and  as 
such  it  is  referred  to  in  Jane's  correspondence :  "  I  do  not 
wonder  at  your  wanting  to  read  First  Impressions  again, 
so  seldom  as  you  have  gone  through  it,  and  that  so  long 
ago;"  this  was  to  her  sister  in  1799,  and  later  on  she 
adds,  with  the  playfulness  never  long  wanting,  "  I  would 
not  let  Martha  read  First  Impressions  again  upon  any 
account,  and  am  very  glad  I  did  not  leave  it  in  your 
power.  She  is  very  cunning,  but  I  saw  through  her 
design,  she  means  to  publish  it  from  memory,  and  one 
more  perusal  must  enable  her  to  do  it." 

There  has  been  great  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the 
relative  merit  of  the  remaining  books,  but  the  concensus 
of  opinion  seems  to  declare  for  Emma,  the  last  but  one 
in  point  of  time,  which  shows  that  the  author's  genius 
had  not  abated.  This  book  is  totally  different  from  the 
first,  it  lacks  the  sparkle  and  verve  which  runs  all  through 
Pride  and  Prejudice,  but  it  has  perhaps  more  depth  and 
is  something  softer  and  more  finished  also. 


lOO  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

These  two  books,  and  all  the  others,  will  be  dealt 
with  in  detail  as  they  occur  chronologically,  for  we  are 
here  only  attempting  to  treat  them  generally,  and  to 
bring  out  those  characteristics  and  excellencies  common 
to  all  which  made  them  such  masterpieces,  and  gave 
their  maker  such  a  unique  place  in  the  hierarchy  of 
authors. 

Jane  Austen  is  one  of  the  three  greatest  among 
English  women  novelists  ;  the  other  two  being,  of  course, 
George  Eliot  and  Charlotte  Bronte,  whose  lives  overlapped 
at  a  much  later  date.  The  genius  of  these  three  women 
is  so  entirely  different  in  kind  that  the  relative  value  of 
their  gifts  can  never  be  put  into  like  terms ;  so  long  as 
men  and  women  read  and  discuss  fiction,  so  long  will 
each  of  the  three  styles  have  its  partisans  who  will  argue 
it  to  be  the  supreme  one  of  the  trio.  Yet  in  spite  of 
this,  in  spite  also  of  a  momentary  fashion  to  decry  the 
wonderful  gifts  of  George  Eliot,  it  is  quite  certain  that 
in  depth  and  breadth  of  feeling,  and  ability  in  its 
portrayal,  she  was  unequalled  by  either  her  predecessor 
or  contemporary.  Her  range  far  surpasses  theirs.  They 
each  dealt  with  one  phase  of  life  or  feeling :  Jane  Austen 
with  English  village  life,  Charlotte  Bronte  with  the  element 
of  passion  in  man  and  woman,  while  George  Eliot's  works 
embrace  many  varieties  of  human  nature  and  action.  If 
her  detractors  are  questioned,  it  will  commonly  be  found 
that  they  do  not  deny  her  ability  or  her  brain  power,  but 
her  genius,  which  is  of  course  a  totally  distinct  thing. 
On  further  probing  of  the  matter,  it  is  usually  discovered 
that  the  contention  is  based  on  the  later  works,  such  as 
Middlemarch  or  Daniel  Deronda,  To  be  quite  fair,  there 
are  some  appearances  in  these  volumes  to  justify  such  an 
estimate,  but  the  mistake  is  that  the  opinion  is  superficial 
and  based  on  appearance  only.  In  her  later  days  George 
Eliot's  tremendous  ability,  tremendous  soul, — and  tremen- 


THE  NOVELS  lOi 

dous  is  the  only  English  word  that  can  be  fitly  applied  to 
it, — made  her  see  so  far  round  and  over  her  own  work, 
as  well  as  allowing  her  such  a  wide  survey  as  to  the 
causes  and  nature  of  things,  that  even  the  productions  of 
her  genius  were  analysed,  curbed,  and  held  in  channels. 
fShe  could  not  let  herself  go ;  her  subtle  insight,  her 
complete  knowledge  of  her  characters,  made  her  qualify 
and  account  for  their  actions,  perhaps  more  for  her  own 
satisfaction  than  for  that  of  readersj  She  might  safely 
have  left  this  to  her  innate  perception  without  fear,  her 
genius  would  never  have  let  her  go  wrong,  but  she  could 
not,  she  must  analyse  even  her  own  creations.  jNo  one 
in  the  world  was  more  free  from  this  tendency  than  Jane 
Austen,  she  was  perfectly  unconscious  of  her  own  mastery 
of  her  subject,  as  unconscious  as  the  bee  when  it  rejects 
all  other  shapes  in  its  cells  for  the  hexagonal.  The 
marvellous  precision  with  which  she  selected  and  rejected 
and  grouped  her  puppets  was  almost  a  matter  of  instinct. 
She  put  in  the  little  touches  which  revealed  what  was  in 
the  mind  of  her  men  and  women  without  premeditation 
or  any  striving.  It  is  the  perfection  of  this  gift  which 
allows  her  books  to  be  read  again  and  again,  for  once  the 
story  is  known,  all  the  slight  indications  of  its  ultimate 
ending,  which  may  have  been  overlooked  while  the  reader 
is  not  in  the  secret,  stand  out  vividly.^  We  grant  to 
George  Eliot's  detractors  that  in  her  later  works  her 
eyes  were  opened,  and  she  analysed  the  work  of  her 
genius  instead  of  writing  spontaneously,  but  to  her  true 
admirers    the  genius   is   still  there,  though    curbed   and 

.    trammelled. 

C^  Every  one  of  her  men  and  women  to  the  last  are 
breathing  human  beings.  Having  granted,  however, 
so  much,  we  turn  to  the  earlier  works,  which,  amazing 
to  say,  are  so  often  overlooked ;  here  her  gallery  is  full 
of  realities,  not   analysed   or    thwarted,   but   moving   as 


102  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

impelled  by  nature.  Was  there  ever  a  boy-brother  and 
girl-sister  in  all  fiction  to  equal  Tom  and  Maggie 
Tulliver?  And  what  of  that  inimitable  trio,  Sisters 
Glegg  and  Tulliver  and  Pullet  ?  Of  its  kind  is  there 
a  scene  that  can  beat  Bob  Jakin's  twisting  Mrs.  Glegg 
round  his  finger  with  judicious  management?  And 
these  are  from  the  abundance  of  one  book  only.  No, 
Jane  cannot  dispute  precedence  with  George  Eliot,  but 
must  yield  the  palm  ;  her  characters,  true  and  admirable 
as  they  are,  lack  that  living  depth  which  George  Eliot 
had  the  power  to  impart.  But  the  two  are  so  totally 
different  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  any  simile  that  will 
bring  them  into  relation  with  one  another.  Perhaps 
the  most  expressive  is  that  of  instrumental  music :  Jane 
Austen's  clear  notes  are  like  those  which  a  skilful 
performer  extracts  from  a  good  harp,  sweet  and  ringing, 
always  pleasant  to  listen  to,  and  restful,  but  not  soul 
stirring ;  while  George  Eliot's  tones  are  like  the  deep 
notes  of  a  violoncello,  stirring  up  the  heart  to  its  core, 
and  leaving  behind  them  feeling  even  after  the  sound 
has  ceased.  The  novels  of  Jane  Austen  were  novels 
of  character  and  manners,  those  of  George  Eliot  of 
feeling.  There  is  no  intention  in  this  comparison  to 
minimise  in  any  way  the  work  of  the  earlier  writer,  she 
chose  her  style,  and  of  its  kind  it  is  perfect ;  her  subtle 
touches  could  only  have  been  the  result  of  the  intuition 
which  is  genius,  but  the  profounder  emotions,  the  slow 
development  of  character  by  friction  with  those  around, 
she  did  not  attempt  to  depict,     j 

We  now  turn  to  the  third  of  the  great  trio. 
Charlotte  Bronte's  gift  was  a  rush  of  strenuous 
passion  that  made  her  stories  pour  forth  living  and 
molten  as  from  the  furnace.  Her  best  characters  are 
admirable,  but  limited  in  number;  we  find  the  same 
timid  heroine,  who  outwardly  was  herself,  and  inwardly 


THE  NOVELS  103 

was  full  of  force  and    passion,  appearing  in  more  than 
one. 

Charlotte's  bitter  indictment  of  Jane's  work,  though 
wholly  untrue,  can  be  made  allowance  for,  seeing  that 
her  eyes  viewed  such  a  different  section  of  the  world  of 
feeling.  She  says  of  Pride  and  Prejudice  :  "  An  accurate 
.^-daguerreotyped  portrait  of  a  commonplace  face ;  a  care- 
fully fenced,  highly  cultured  garden,  with  neat  borders 
and  delicate  flowers,  but  no  glance  of  a  bright  vivid 
physiognomy,  no  open  country,  no  fresh  air,  no  blue 
hill,  no  bonny  beck."  And  at  another  time,  with  much 
truth :  "  The  passions  are  perfectly  unknown  to  her ; 
she  rejects  even  a  speaking  acquaintance  with  that 
stormy  sisterhood.  What  sees  keenly,  speaks  aptly, 
moves  flexibly,  it  suits  her  to  study  ;  but  what  throbs 
fast  and  full,  though  hidden,  what  the  blood  rushes 
through,  what  is  the  unseen  seat  of  life,  and  the  sentient 
target  of  death,  this  Miss  Austen  ignores." 

Charlotte  Bronte's  own  strongest  point  is  her  storj/^ 
and  as  the  teller  of  an  interesting  story,  absorbing  in 
its  wild  and  strenuous  action,  she  ranks  very  high,  but 
character-drawing  is  not  her  forte.  She  herself  fails  in 
the  point  of  which  she  accuses  Jane,  she  could  photo- 
graph those  persons  she  knew  intimately, — herself  for 
instance,  or  her  father's  curates, — but  directly  she  went 
beyond,  she  failed ;  what  could  be  weaker  than  the 
society  people  in  Jane  Eyre^  —  the  ringletted  Blanche 
and  the  wooden  young  men  ? 

A  great  many  of  her  minor  characters  are  mere 
dummies  who  do  not  remain  in  the  mind  at  all.  But 
one  of  her  strong  points  is  one  entirely  ignored  by 
Jane,  and  that  is  the  impression  of  scenery  and  the 
aspects  of  weather.  Which  of  us  has  not  felt  a  chill 
of  desolation  as  he  stood  in  fancy  on  the  wet  gravel- 
path   leading   up   to   Lowood  ?   or  not  been  sensible  of 


I04  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

the  exhilaration  of  that  sharp,  clear,  frosty  night  when 
Jane  first  encountered  Mr.  Rochester  in  the  lane?  In  a 
few  words,  very  few,  Charlotte  Bronte  has  a  marvellous 
capability  for  making  one  feel  the  surroundings  of  her 
characters,  and  this  is  no  mean  gift.  Adherents  she 
will  always  have,  and  to  them  it  may  be  granted  that 
her  whole  theme  was  one  totally  ignored  by  Jane, 
whose  men  and  women  are  swept  by  no  mighty  whirl- 
winds of  their  own  generating.  In  fact  it  has  been 
alleged  against  Jane  that  she  had  neither  passion  nor 
pathos,  and  perhaps,  if  we  except  one  or  two  touches  of 
the  latter  quality  in  dealing  with  forlorn  little  Fanny  in 
Mansfield  Park^  this  is  true.  The  only  simile  that 
occurs  as  suitable  to  use  in  the  comparison  between 
Charlotte  and  Jane  is  that  the  soul  of  the  one  was 
like  the  turbulent  rush  of  her  own  brown  Yorkshire 
streams  over  the  wild  moorlands — streams  which  pour  in 
cataracts  and  shatter  themselves  on  great  grey  stones 
in  a  tumultuous  frenzy,  while  that  of  the  other  resem.bled 
the  calm  limpid  waters  of  her  own  Hampshire  river,  the 
Itchen,  wending  its  way  placidly  between  luscious  green 
meadows. 

"A  deeper  sky,  where  stooping  you  may  see 
The  little  minnows  darting  restlessly." 

The  preference  between  these  two  is  all  a  matter  of 
taste,  and  will  be  decided  by  the  fact  whether  the 
admiration  of  clear  incisive  humour  and  comedy  of 
manners  outweighs  that  of  fiery  feeling  and  a  rush  of 
emotion. 


CHAPTER   VI 
LETTERS  AND  POST 

THE  maiiL--soufG#-^f-4»formatioiL.abaut -Jane  Austen 
is^contained  in  herjetters.     The  bulk  of  those 
that  have   been   preserved   are  to  be   found   in   the  two 
volumes    edited  by  Lord    Brabourne,  her   great-nephew. 
And    these    are   only  the   remnant  of  what    we    might 
have    had    but    for    Cassandra's    action.      It    could    not 
matter   to   Jane    or   Cassandra    now   if   those    gay    out- 
pourings had  been  published  in  full,  and  we  should  have 
had   a   much   more   complete    and    true   picture   of   one 
whom  England  holds  among  her  three  greatest  women 
novelists.     As    it    is,   anything    based    on    these    letters 
must  necessarily  be  subject  to   modification,  the   infer- 
ences   drawn   are   imperfect,   and    there    are    long   gaps 
in   continuity,  while    many  events   of  great   moment  to 
the   writer    herself  are    not    so    much   as   referred   to   in 
them.      We    owe    it,    however,    to    the    fact    that  visits 
then  really  were  visits,  extending  over  weeks  or  months, 
to  compensate  for  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  travel- 
ling, that  what  remain   are  many  in  number ;    and  also 
we  have  cause  to  be  thankful  that  on  account  of  Mrs. 
Austen    and    the    household,    the    two    sisters    made    a 
point   of  not    leaving   home    together,   generally   taking 
turns,  so  that  the  letters  are  very  much   more  numerous 
than  they  might  otherwise  have  been. 

Besides  those  written  to  Cassandra,  there  are  a  few 

105 


io6  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

given  by  Lord  Brabourne,  which  were  written  to  his  own 
mother  as  a  girl,  and  these  are  by  no  means  the  least 
interesting  in  the  book.  A  certain  number  also  are 
addressed  to  Jane's  other  niece,  Anna.  Besides  those 
in  Lord  Brabourne's  book,  there  are  one  or  two 
additional  ones  in  the  Memoir  by  Mr.  Austen-Leigh, 
Jane's  own  nephew. 

The  first  of  the  published  letters  is  dated  the  begin- 
ning of  1796,  when  Jane  was  twenty-one.  As  the  letters 
contain  many  comments  on  dress,  food,  daily  occurrences 
of  all  sorts,  the  best  method  seems  to  be  to  use  them  as 
a  thread  on  which  to  hang  notes  of  the  everyday  life 
of  the  period,  collating  what  the  writer  herself  says  with 
what  is  otherwise  known,  and  in  this  way  to  gain  a 
background  against  which  her  own  figure  will  stand  out. 

One  great  characteristic  of  her  correspondence  is 
its  extreme  liveliness  and  humour.  This  is  the  more 
remarkable  because  in  her  age  and  time  letters  were, 
with  a  few  brilliant  exceptions,  ponderous  and  laboured, 
written  in  the  grand  style,  as  was  perhaps  natural  when 
the  sending  of  a  letter  was  a  serious  consideration. 

The  following  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  style 
considered  proper  for  a  boy  of  sixteen,  writing  to 
his  mother — 

"  I  am  extremely  sorry  to  be  thus  troublesome  to 
you,  but  I  hope  the  time  may  come  when  I  shall  be  able 
to  say  that  I  have  in  some  small  degree  deserved  the 
many  cares  and  anxieties  I  have  cost  you,  at  least  no 
effort  shall  be  lost  to  attain  that  end.  There  are  two 
objects  (virtue  and  ability)  constantly  before  my  eyes  ; 
if  I  attain  them  I  know  myself  sure  of  your  approbation, 
in  the  possession  of  which  I  shall  be  happy,  and  without 
which  I  should  be  miserable,  so  that  if  selfish  gratification 
was  the  only  cause,  I  should  proceed  in  my  grand  object. 
A   more  powerful  cause,  however,  employs  its  influence 


LETTERS  AND  POST  107 

upon  my  mind,  a  desire  of  doing  good,  which  cannot 
operate  without  ability,  cannot  have  effect  without  virtue." 

If  a  fond  mother  of  the  present  day  got  such  a  letter 
from  a  schoolboy  son  she  would  probably  take  the  first 
train  to  see  if  he  were  ill ! 

The  same  stiffness  was  the  rule  in  intimate  family 
relations.  This  boy,  who  was  no  peculiar  specimen,  but 
a  natural  boy  of  his  times,  writes  about  his  little  sister : 
"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  Anna  Maria  is  such  a  nice 
girl.  I  hope  she  is  clever  both  at  her  books  and  at  her 
needle  ...  at  the  former  I  am  sure  she  is,  if  she  always 
writes  such  nice  letters  as  the  last  she  sent  to  me.  Is  it 
asking  too  much,  to  beg  her  to  write  another  before  she 
returns  to  Kendal  ?  " 

How  different  these  sentences  are  from  the  lively 
ones  of  Jane  Austen  to  her  sister :  "  Everybody  is 
extremely  anxious  for  your  return,  but  as  you  cannot 
come  home  by  the  Ashe  ball,  I  am  glad  I  have  not 
fed  them  with  false  hopes.  James  danced  with  Alithea, 
and  cut  up  the  turkey  last  night  with  great  perseverance. 
You  say  nothing  of  the  silk  stockings,  I  flatter  myself 
therefore  that  Charles  has  not  purchased  any,  as  I 
cannot  very  well  afford  to  pay  for  them.  .  .  .  We 
received  a  visit  from  Mr.  Tom  Lefroy  and  his  cousin 
George.  The  latter  is  really  very  well  behaved  now, 
and  as  for  the  other  he  has  but  one  fault,  which  time 
will,  I  trust,  entirely  remove,  it  is  that  his  morning  coat 
is  a  great  deal  too  light." 

And  again,  "  I  am  very  much  flattered  by  your 
commendation  of  my  last  letter,  for  I  write  only  for 
fame  and  without  any  view  to  pecuniary  emolument." 

It  was  an  age  of  letter  writing,  periodicals  were 
expensive,  and,  in  remote  districts,  difficult  to  get ;  even 
when  obtained,  the  news  was  what  we  should  deem  at 
the  present  time  scanty  in  the  extreme.      The  Times^  for 


I08  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

instance,  consisted  of  only  a  single  folded  sheet,  of  which 
the  front  page  was  occupied  with  advertisements.  The 
foreign  news  was  always  some  days  old,  as  it  was 
obtained  by  special  packet-boats,  which  brought  across 
the  French  papers.  These  boats  being  dependent  on 
the  wind  and  currents,  were  subject  to  many  delays. 
The  newspaper  taxes  were  heavy  and  burdensome,  and 
though  even  the  poorest  sheet  of  news  must  be  con- 
sidered wonderful  in  view  of  the  difficulty  and  expense 
attendant  on  the  procuring  of  news  in  pre-telegraph 
days,  the  fact  remains  that  much  was  left  out  which 
could  only  be  supplied  by  private  correspondence. 
Horace  Walpole,  of  course,  stands  out  as  the  prince 
of  letter-writers  of  his  time ;  his  published  letters  now 
amount  to  over  two  thousand,  and  deal  with  all  the 
current  questions  of  the  day.  Of  course  these  letters 
are  on  an  altogether  different  plane  from  the  little  batch 
of  about  two  hundred,  which  are  all  we  have  of  Jane's. 
Walpole's  letters  are  read,  not  only  for  their  style  and 
manner,  but  for  the  light  they  throw  on  society  and 
politics.  Jane's  can  be  of  interest  to  none  but 
those  who  are  interested  in  her.  And  at  the  time 
they  were  published  there  were  many  voices  raised  in 
protest  against  the  publication  of  such  very  "  small  beer," 
but  in  so  far  as  they  throw  light  on  her  own  daily  life 
they  are  certainly  worth  having. 

Considered  merely  as  private  productions,  it  is 
wonderful,  considering  the  expense  of  letter  carriage 
and  the  delay  of  correspondence,  that  she  wrote  so 
much  as  she  did. 

Letters  in  those  days  consisted  only  of  a  single 
sheet  without  an  envelope,  which  was  formed  by  the 
last  page  of  the  sheet  itself  being  folded  over  and 
fastened  by  a  wafer.  This  did  not  leave  much  room 
for  writing. 


A    f  LETTERS  AND  POST  109 

Jf  /Qa^^^  wrote  very  small,  and  her  lines  are  neat  and 
straight,  so  that  she  got^  the  J^argest  amount  possible 
into  the^  available  space.  At  that  time  a  single 
sheet  of  paper,  not  exceeding  an  ounce  in  weight, 
varied  in  price  from  4d.  to  is.  6d.,  according  to 
the  distance  it  was  carried  ;  if  it  exceeded  an  ounce,  it 
was  charged  fourfold ;  any  additional  bit  of  paper  made 
it  into  a  double  letter,  which  was  charged  accordingly. 
But  the  thing  which  would  seem  to  us  most  intolerable 
of  all,  was  that  the  recipient  and  not  the  sender  paid  for 
the  missive,  whereby  many  modest  souls  must  have  been 
prevented  from  ever  writing  to  their  friends  lest  the 
letter  should  not  be  considered  worth  the  charge.  Not 
until  long  after  Jane  had  been  in  her  grave  did  adhesive 
stamps  come  into  use. 

It  is  a  commonly  received  idea  that  the  Post  Office 
as  an  institution  dates  from  the  establishment  of  universal 
penny  post  in  the  British  Isles  by  Rowland  Hill  in  i  840. 
But  this  is  far  from  being  the  case ;  there  was  a  post- 
master in  1533,  if  not  before.  In  1680  a  parcels  post 
at  a  penny  a  pound  was  established  in  London  by 
William  Dockwra,  who  also  suggested  passing  letters  in 
London  at  the  same  rate. 

The  profits  of  the  post-office  at  that  time  were,  by  a 
most  flagrant  abuse,  the  monopoly  of  the  Duke  of  York, 
who  vehemently  resented  Dockwra's  improvements.  In 
spite  of  this,  however,  Dockwra  won  his  way.  The 
London  letters  for  the  penny  post  were  daily  "  Trans- 
mitted to  Lyme  Street,  at  the  Dwelling  House  of  the  said 
Mr.  Dockwra,  formerly  the  Mansion  House  of  Sir  Robert 
Abdy,  Kt. 

"  There  are  Seven  sorting  Houses  proper  to  the  seven 
Precincts  into  which  the  undertakers  have  divided  London, 
Westminster,  and  the  Suburbs,  situated  at  equal  Distances, 
for  the  better   maintenance  of   mutual  Correspondence. 


no  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

There  are  about  400  or  500  receiving  Houses,  to  take 
in  letters,  where  the  Messengers  call  every  hour,  and 
convey  them  as  directed ;  as  also  post  letters^  the  writing 
of  which  are  much  increased  by  this  accommodation,  being 
carefully  conveyed  by  them  to  the  general  Post  Office  in 
Lombard  Street." 

These  "  post  letters  "  are  those  for  the  country,  still 
the  monopoly  of  the  Duke,  who  had  been  persuaded  to 
yield  to  Dockwra's  scheme  as  likely  to  further  his  own 
revenue. 

Also,  "  By  these  [clerks,  messengers,  etc.]  are  conveyed 
Letters  and  Parcels  not  exceeding  one  Pound  Weight, 
nor  Ten  Pound  in  Value,  to  and  from  all  Parts  at  Season- 
able Times,  viz. :  of  the  Cities  of  London  and  Westminster, 
Southwark,  Redriff,  Wapping,  Ratcliff,  Limehouse, 
Stepney,  Poplar,  and  Blackwall,  and  all  other  places 
within  the  weekly  Bills  of  Mortality,  as  also  the  four 
towns  of  Hackney,  Islington,  South  Newington  Butts, 
and  Lambeth,  but  to  no  other  towns,  and  the  letters  to 
be  left  only  at  the  receiving  offices  of  those  towns,  or  if 
brought  to  their  Houses  a  penny  more." 

Dockwra  not  only  carried,  but  insured  letters  and 
parcels  up  to  ;^io  in  value.  He  was  liberal  in  his 
deliveries.  "  To  the  most  remote  Places  Letters  go  four 
or  five  times  of  the  day,  to  other  Places  six  or  eight 
times  of  the  day.  To  Inns  of  Court  and  Places  of 
Business  in  Town,  especially  in  term  or  Parliament  time, 
ten  or  twelve  times  of  the  day."  Stamps  were  also  used 
to  mark  the  hour  when  the  letters  were  sent  out  to  be 
delivered,  an  item  only  recently  reintroduced  into  our 
postal  service.  Much  wailing  was  heard  at  Dockwra's 
reforms  from  the  porters  of  London,  who  had  made  a 
fine  living  by  carrying  correspondence,  their  outcries  were 
much  the  same  as  those  of  the  watermen,  who  afterwards 
wailed  at  the  introduction  of  hackney  coaches. 


LETTERS  AND  POST  in 

Dockwra  was  not  long  allowed  to  enjoy  his  idea,  for 
his  scheme  was  incorporated  into  the  General  Post  Office, 
though  he  afterwards  received  a  pension  of  i!^50o  a  year, 
and  was  made  Comptroller  of  the  London  Post  Office. 

For  anything  outside  of  London,  distance  still  counted 
in  the  cost,  though  we  read  in  The  Times  of  1793  that 
a  penny  post  had  been  established  in  Manchester.  It 
was  Rowland  Hill  who  introduced  the  universal  penny 
post  in  Great  Britain,  thus  extending  the  Dockwra  idea. 
In  1 7 1  o  the  postal  system  was  reformed  and  improved, 
three  rates  were  put  in  force,  namely :  threepence  if 
under  eighty  miles ;  fourpence  if  above ;  and  sixpence 
to  Edinburgh  or  Dublin.  This  explains  the  custom  of 
carrying  letters  for  some  distance  and  then  posting 
them  ;  Jane  Austen  says,  "  I  put  Mary's  letter  into  the 
post  office  with  my  own  hand  at  Andover,"  this  was  on 
the  wa)/  to  Bath.  In  1720  cross-posts  were  introduced 
by  the  suggestion  of  Ralph  Allen,  a  Bath  postmaster ; 
before  that  time  every  letter  had  to  go  round  by  London 
to  be  cleared,  even  supposing  it  to  be  intended  for  a 
town  not  far  off  from  the  sender.  Allen  offered  to 
organise  the  whole  thing,  paying  a  fixed  rent,  and 
taking  the  profits.  His  plan  succeeded  so  well  that  he 
cleared  i^  10,000  a  year.  At  his  death  in  1764  the 
Government  took  over  the  contract. 

Up  to  1784,  letters  were  carried  on  horseback  by 
post-boys,  who  were  underpaid  and  undisciplined  ;  if  a 
boy  got  drunk,  or  entered  into  conversation  with  strangers 
who  turned  out  to  be  well-mannered  footpads,  the  bags 
never  reached  their  destination.  In  1783,  John  Palmer, 
manager  of  the  Bath  and  Bristol  Theatre,  suggested  the 
employment  of  regular  coaches,  which  might  at  the  same 
time  carry  passengers,  hence  the  inauguration  of  mail- 
coaches,  the  first  two  of  which  started  between  London 
and   Bristol  in   August  1784.      The  drivers  and  guards 


112  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

were  armed,  and  if  this  did  not  altogether  ensure  the 
safety  of  the  mails — as  the  weapons  were  often  a  mere 
farce,  and  the  men  themselves  either  chicken-hearted  or 
in  collusion  with  the  robbers — it  proved,  at  all  events, 
productive  of  greater  regularity  in  the  delivery  of  letters. 

*'  Hark  !     'Tis  the  twanging  horn  !     O'er  yonder  bridge 
That  with  its  wearisome  but  needful  length 
Bestrides  the  wintry  flood,  in  which  the  moon 
Sees  her  unwrinkled  face  reflected  bright ; 
He  comes,  the  herald  of  a  noisy  world, 
With  spattered  boots,  strapped  waist,  and  frozen  locks, 
News  from  all  nations  lumbering  at  his  back. 
True  to  his  charge  the  close  packed  load  behind, 
Yet  careless  what  he  brings,  his  own  concern 
Is  to  conduct  it  to  the  destined  inn. 
And  having  dropped  the  expected  bag — pass  on."     (Cowper.) 

Hannah  More  remarks  on  the  innovation  :  "  Mail 
coaches,  which  come  to  others,  come  not  to  me  ;  letters 
and  newspapers  now  that  they  travel  in  coaches,  like 
gentlemen  and  ladies,  come  not  within  ten  miles  of  my 
hermitage." 

The  system  of  franking  is  one  of  those  things  that 
make  us  realise  the  difference  between  the  ideas  of  our  own 
time  and  those  of  the  eighteenth  century  more  than  any- 
thing else  ;  that  such  an  abuse  can  have  been  permitted 
is  incredible,  monstrous.  Of  course  as  it  was  in  force 
everybody  availed  themselves  of  it  without  scruple,  few 
indeed  are  the  persons  whose  private  consciences  are  in 
advance  of  public  rules ;  Jane  writes  frequently  on  the 
subject — 

'*  As  Eliza  has  been  so  good  as  to  get  me  a  frank, 
your  questions  shall  be  answered  without  much  further 
expense  to  you.  .  .  .  On  Thursday  Mr.  Lushington,  M.P. 
for  Canterbury,  and  manager  of  the  lodge  hounds,  dines 
here  and  stays  the  night.  If  I  can,  I  will  get  a  frank 
from  him,  and  write  to  you  all  the  sooner." 


LETTERS  AND  POST  113 

"  Now,  I  will  prepare  for  Mr.  Lushington,  and  as  it 
will  be  wisest  also  to  prepare  for  his  not  coming,  or  my 
not  getting  a  frank,  I  shall  write  very  close  from  the 
first,  and  even  leave  room  for  the  seal  in  the  proper 
place." 

"Letters  were  sent  when  franks  could  be  procured, 
And  when  they  could  not,  silence  was  endured."     (Crabbe.) 

Horace  Walpole  says,  "  I  have  kept  this  letter  some 
days  in  my  writing  box  till  I  could  meet  with  a  stray 
member  of  parliament,  for  it  is  not  worth  making  you 
pay  for." 

"  The  franking  of  letters  as  an  institution  commenced 
as  early  as  the  year  1660,  when  it  was  resolved  that 
members'  letters  should  come  and  go  free,  during  the 
sitting  of  the  House.  When  the  Bill  was  sent  up  to 
the  Lords,  it  was  thrown  out  because  the  privilege  was 
not  extended  to  them.  When,  however,  the  omission 
was  supplied,  the  Bill  passed.  The  privilege  in  course 
of  time  was  grossly  abused.  Members  signed  large 
packets  of  envelopes  at  once,  and  either  sold  them,  or 
gave  them  to  their  friends.  It  was  worth  the  while  of 
a  house  of  business,  when  letters  cost  sixpence  apiece,  to 
buy  a  thousand  franks  at  fourpence  apiece ;  sometimes 
servants  got  them  from  their  masters  and  sold  them.  In 
the  year  17 15,  franked  letters  representing  ;£"24,ooo  a 
year  passed  through  the  post.  In  1763  the  amount  was 
actually  ;{^  170,000.  Supposing  that  each  letter  would 
have  brought  in  sixpence  to  the  post  office,  this  means 
nearly  7,000,000  letters,  so  that  every  member  of  the 
two  Houses  would  have  signed  an  average  of  7000  letters 
a  year.  It  was  then  enacted  that  no  letter  should  pass 
free  unless  the  address,  as  well  as  the  signature,  was  in 
the  member's  handwriting.  Lastly,  it  was  ordered  that 
all  franks  should  be  sealed  and  that  they  should  be  put 


114  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

into  the  post  on  the  day  of  the  date.  Even  with  these 
precautions  the  amount  of  franks  represented  ;^8 4,000 
a  year.  The  privilege  was  finally  abolished  with  the 
great  reforms  of  1841.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  a 
system  of  wholesale  forgery  had  sprung  up  long  before." 
"  Members  of  Parliament  sold  their  privileges  of  franking 
sometimes  for  ;£^300  a  year."  (Sir  Walter  Besant, 
London  in  the  Eighteenth  Century^ 

In  Joseph  Brasbridge's  Fruits  of  Experience,  it  is 
mentioned  that  a  large  firm  of  drapers  used  to  buy  their 
franks  from  the  poor  relations  of  M.P.'s  at  forty-eight 
shilling  the  gross. 

The  abuse  of  franking  was  called  in  question  at  various 
dates,  and  reforms  advised.  In  reply  to  questions  asked 
in  Parliament,  it  was  stated  that  various  clerks  in  Govern- 
ment offices  used  to  frank  to  any  amount — not  only 
their  own  correspondence  but  that  of  others  ;  probably 
receiving  large  sums  of  money  for  doing  so.  In  fact  it 
was  known  that  some  persons  whose  salaries  were  ;£^300 
or  ;£^400  a  year  had  been  making  incomes  of  ^1000 
and  ;6^I200  by  this  means!  The  celebrated  bookseller 
Lackington  had  friends  in  one  of  the  offices,  and  sent 
his  catalogues  free  all  over  the  country.  A  majority  of 
twelve  decided  for  the  Question  in  the  House. 

The  reforms  practically  meant  the  abolition  of  franks 
so  far  as  private  persons  were  concerned,  as  Hannah 
More  put  it,  Pitt  had  murdered  scribbling  ;  while  speak- 
ing of  a  friend  she  writes :  "  She  will  generously  tell 
me  she  has  postage  in  her  pocket,  but  we  have  been 
used  to  franks,  and  besides  the  post  is  bewitched  and 
charges  nobody  knows  what  for  letters ;  two  shillings 
and  ninepence,  I  think  Mrs.  L.  says  she  paid  for  a 
letter."  And  again,  *'  The  abolition  of  franks  is  quite  a 
serious  affliction  to  me,  not  that  I  shall  ever  regret 
paying  the  postage  for  my  friends'  letters,  but  for  fear  it 


LETTERS  AND  POST  115 

should  restrain  them  from  writing.  It  is  a  tax  upon  the 
free  currency  of  affection  and  sentiment,  and  goes  nearer 
my  heart  than  the  cruel  decision  against  literary  property 
did,  for  that  was  only  taxing  the  manufacture,  but  this 
the  raw  material." 

These  remarks  were  caused  by  the  reforms  of  1784. 

But,  as  we  have  said,  the  whole  system  of  franking 
was  not  abolished  until  1841. 

Of  course  there  were  no  postmen  to  deliver  letters 
as  they  do  now.  It  was  considered  a  great  convenience 
to  have  a  post-office  at  all,  from  which  letters  could  be 
fetched.  In  1787,  Horace  Walpole  says  there  was  no 
posthouse  at  Twickenham.  The  fetching  of  letters  is 
one  of  the  minor  peeps  we  get  into  the  times  through 
the  novels.  In  EmmUy  when  Mr.  Knightley  meets  Miss 
Fairfax  he  says — 

"  *  I  hope  you  did  not  venture  far.  Miss  Fairfax,  this 
morning,  or  I  am  sure  you  must  have  been  wet.  We 
scarcely  got  home  in  time.  I  hope  you  turned 
directly ! ' 

**  *  I  went  only  to  the  post-office,'  said  she,  *  and 
reached  home  before  the  rain  was  much.  It  is  my  daily 
errand,  I  always  fetch  the  letters  when  I  am  here.  It 
saves  trouble,  and  is  a  something  to  get  me  out.  A 
walk  before  breakfast  does  me  good.'  ... 

"  *  The  post-office  has  a  great  charm  at  one  period  of 
our  lives.  When  you  have  lived  to  my  age  you  will 
begin  to  think  letters  are  never  worth  going  through 
rain  for.'  .  .  . 

" '  You  are  speaking  of  letters  of  business ;  mine  are 
letters  of  friendship.' 

"  *  I  have  often  thought  them  the  worse  of  the  two,' 
he  replied  coolly. 

"  '  Ah !  You  are  not  serious  now.  .  .  .  You  have 
everybody  dearest  to  you  always  near  at  hand.      I  prob- 


ii6  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

ably  never  shall  again  ;  and  therefore  until  I  have  out- 
lived all  my  affections,  a  post-office,  I  think,  must  always 
have  power  to  draw  me  out,  in  w^orse  weather  than 
to-day.' " 

When  we  realise  that  every  one  of  the  letters  pre- 
served for  us  in  Lord  Brabourne's  book  must  have 
cost  on  an  average  a  shilling,  we  feel  more  strongly 
than  before  the  tie  between  Jane  and  Cassandra,  which 
demanded  such  constant  communication,  and  the  retail- 
ing of  every  minute  affair. 

We  have  nothing  to  tell  us  how  letters  came  to 
Steventon,  but  can  form  some  sort  of  conjecture  for  our- 
selves. There  was  of  course  no  post-office  in  such  a 
minute  place ;  the  letters  would  arrive  at  Winchester, 
and  from  thence  be  forwarded  by  the  Basingstoke  coach, 
and  dropped  at  the  inn  which  stands  at  Popham  Lane 
End,  about  two  miles  away.  It  would  be  almost  certainly 
impossible  for  Jane  to  walk,  except  in  the  driest  weather, 
through  lanes  of  which  we  are  told  they  were  impassable 
for  carriages  at  certain  seasons,  and  could  only  be 
traversed  on  horseback.  The  man-servant  would  there- 
fore probably  be  detailed  to  go  for  the  post-bag,  possibly 
riding  on  one  of  the  carriage  horses ;  and  Jane  would 
wait  in  the  damp  mist  of  an  autumn  afternoon  by  the 
front  door,  dressed  in  a  costume  most  unsuitable  for  the 
climate,  according  to  our  ideas,  with  thin  heel-less  slippers 
kept  up  by  crossed  elastic,  and  long  clinging  skirts,  with 
bare  arms  and  only  a  dainty  chemisette  not  reaching  to 
her  neck.  She  would  greet  the  man  eagerly  to  see  if 
there  was  a  letter  for  her  in  the  handwriting  of  her 
beloved  sister, — a  welcome  break  on  the  monotony  of  a 
grey  day,  when  perhaps  Mrs.  Austen  was  in  bed  with 
one  of  her  chronic  complaints. 


CHAPTER   VII 
SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING 

THE  first  of  the  published  letters  was  written  in 
January  1796,  a  time  of  year  when  such  a  scene 
as  that  sketched  at  the  end  of  the  last  chapter  must 
often  have  taken  place.  The  season  was  far  from  being 
a  gloomy  one,  however,  balls  and  entertainments  were 
going  on  all  round,  and  the  Austens  had  guests  of  their 
own  also.  These  were  their  cousins  the  Coopers,  in 
regard  to  whom  Lord  Brabourne,  who  being  himself  a 
great-nephew  ought  to  have  known,  makes  a  most 
curious  blunder.  In  his  notes  previous  to  the  letters  he 
says,  "  The  Coopers,  whose  arrival  is  expected  in  the 
first,  and  announced  in  the  second  letter,  were  Dr. 
Cooper,  already  mentioned  as  having  married  Jane 
Austen's  aunt,  Jane  Leigh,  with  his  wife  and  their  two 
children,  Edward  and  Jane,  of  whom  we  shall  frequently 
hear."  This  was  in  1796,  but  Dr.  Cooper  had  died  in 
1792  ;  he  had  held  the  livings  of  Sonning,  in  Berkshire, 
and  Whaddon,  near  Bath,  contemporaneously  until  his 
death.  The  Mr.  Cooper  whom  the  Austens  were 
expecting,  was  Dr.  Cooper's  son  Edward,  of  whom  Lord 
Brabourne  speaks  as  a  child,  with  his  wife  and  their  two 
small  children,  Edward  and  Isabella,  then  both  under 
two  years  old.  The  Coopers  are  mentioned  a  great 
deal    in    the   entertaining  Diary   of  Mrs.  Philip    Lybbe 

Powys,  from  which  we  have  already  quoted,  for  Edward 

117 


Ii8  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Cooper  married  her  daughter  Caroline.  He,  like  his 
father,  was  in  Orders,  and  was  at  first  a  curate  at  Harpsden 
under  his  non-residential  grandfather,  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Leigh,  and  was  afterwards  presented  to  the  living  of 
Hamstall  Ridware,  Staffordshire,  by  Mrs.  Leigh,  a  relative 
of  his  mother's  by  whom  he  was  connected  with  the 
Austens,  Mrs.  Austen  having  been  a  Miss  Leigh.  On 
January  2  1,  1799,  Jane  writes:  "Yesterday  came  a 
letter  to  my  mother  from  Edward  Cooper  to  announce, 
not  the  birth  of  a  child,  but  of  a  living ;  for  Mrs.  Leigh 
has  begged  his  acceptance  of  the  rectory  of  Hamstall 
Ridware  in  Staffordshire,  vacant  by  Mr.  Johnson's  death. 
We  collect  from  his  letter  that  he  means  to  reside  there. 
The  living  is  valued  at  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds  a 
year,  but  it  may  be  improvable." 

The  little  boy  mentioned  above  as  coming  with  his 
parents  to  stay  at  Steventon,  had  been  christened  at 
Harpsden  Church  on  December  3,  1794,  and  Henry 
Austen  was  one  of  the  sponsors.  At  the  christening  of 
another  little  Cooper,  named  Cassandra,  in  1797,  Mrs. 
Austen  stood  sponsor.  Jane  remarks  of  the  two  elder 
children  who  came  to  Steventon,  "  the  little  boy  is  very 
like  Dr.  Cooper,  and  the  little  girl  is  to  resemble  Jane, 
they  say."  This  probably  gave  rise  to  Lord  Brabourne's 
mistake,  but  in  reality  Jane  Austen  was  commenting  on 
the  child's  likeness  to  its  dead  grandfather,  not  to  its 
father,  and  the  Jane  the  girl  was  to  resemble,  was 
Edward  Cooper's  sister  Jane,  who  became  Lady  Williams, 
and  was  killed  in  a  carriage  accident  in  1798. 

Even  Mr.  Austen-Leigh,  Jane  Austen's  own  nephew, 
does  not  seem  to  have  realised  Dr.  Cooper's  plurality  of 
livings,  for  he  says,  "  The  family  lived  in  close  intimacy 
with  two  cousins,  Edward  and  Jane  Cooper,  the  children 
of  Mrs.  Austen's  eldest  sister,  and  Dr.  Cooper,  the  vicar 
of  Sonning,  near  Reading.     The  Coopers  lived  for  some 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  119 

years  at  Bath,  which  seems  to  have  been  much  frequented 
in  those  days  by  clergymen  retiring  from  work.  I 
beh'eve  that  Cassandra  and  Jane  sometimes  visited 
them  there,  and  that  Jane  thus  acquired  the  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  topography  and  customs  of  Bath  which 
enabled  her  to  write  Northanger  Abbey  long  before  she 
resided  there  herself" 

The  inference  is  not  quite  true,  for  if  this  had  been 
so  she  must  have  acquired  that  knowledge  before  her 
seventeenth  year,  for  she  was  that  age  when  her  uncle 
Dr.  Cooper  died,  and  it  is  probable  that  her  aunt  had 
predeceased  him  as  she  is  never  mentioned  at  all  by 
Mrs.  Lybbe  Powys,  who  relates  a  tour  she  made  with 
him,  his  son  and  daughter,  to  the  Isle  of  Wight.  But 
there  is  no  need  for  any  inference  of  the  sort  at  all, 
for  Jane  had  another  uncle  and  aunt,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Leigh-Perrot — her  mother's  brother  having  adopted  the 
additional  name  of  Perrot — who  sometimes  resided  at 
Bath,  and  it  is  obviously  to  an  invitation  from  this 
aunt  she  refers  in  a  letter  of  1799. 

As    we    have    said,  it    was   the  season    of   balls    at 

'Steventon  ;  quiet  as    the   rectory  was   there  were  many 

large   houses   of  the   country   gentry   around   in   various 

directions,  and    entertainments    of   all   sorts   were    then 

perhaps  even  more  in  fashion  than  now ;  to  all  of  these 

the  rectory  party  received    invitations.      In    the  second 

paragraph  of  the   first   letter,  Jane   says,   "  We  had   an 

exceeding  good  ball  last  night,"  and  later,  "  I  am  almost 

ashamed  to  tell  you  how  my  Irish  friend  and  I  behaved. 

Imagine    to    yourself    everything    most     profligate    and 

^shocking  in  the  way  of  dancing  and  sitting  down  together 

...  we  had   a  very  good  supper,  and   the  greenhouse 

was  illuminated  in  a  very  elegant  manner." 

^'   In     another    letter,    written     later,     she     gives     the 

/following    account    of    a    ball:     "We    were     very    well 


I20  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

entertained,  and  could  have  stayed  longer,  but  for  the 
arrival  of  my  list  shoes  to  convey  me  home,  and  I  did 
not  like  to  keep  them  waiting  in  the  cold.  The  room 
was  tolerable  full,  and  the  ball  opened  by  Miss  Glyn. 
The  Miss  Lances  had  partners,  Captain  Dauvergne's 
friend  appeared  in  regimentals,  Caroline  Maitland  had  an 
officer  to  flirt  with,  and  Mr.  John  Harrison  was  deputed 
by  Captain  Smith,  himself  being  absent,  to  ask  me  to 
dance.  Everything  went  well,  you  see,  especially  after 
we  had  tucked  Mrs.  Lance's  neckerchief  in  behind,  and 
fastened  it  with  a  pin." 

Mr.  Austen-LeigTT  says :  "  There  must  have  been 
more  dancing  throughout  the  country  in  those  days  than 
there  is  now,  and  it  seems  to  have  sprung  up  more 
spontaneously,  as  if  it  were  a  natural  production,  with 
less  fastidiousness  as  to  the  quality  of  music,  lights,  and 
floor.  Many  country  towns  had  a  monthly  ball  through- 
out the  winter,  in  some  of  which  the  same  apartment 
served  for  dancing  and  tea-room." 

People  in  the  country  were  then  more  dependent  on 
each  other  for  entertainment,  there  was  no  looking  upon 
the  London  season  as  a  necessity,  and  people  could  not 
rush  about  from  one  end  of  England  to  another  for  a 
night  or  two  as  they  now  do.  During  the  long  winter 
months,  when  the  bitter  cold  and  the  cumbersome  methods 
of  travelling  made  any  journey  out  of  the  question  for 
most,  to  say  nothing  of  the  expense,  balls  for  those  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Steventon  were  frequently  given, 
and  Jane  and  Cassandra  Austen  had  their  ^^  share,  and 
seem  to  have  most  heartily  enjoyed  it.pjane  herself 
evidently  loved  dancing,  balls  are  freqyently_jm^iitiQned 
in  her  novels,  and  the  actual  dancing  itself,  even  without 
its  enjoyable  concomitant  of  flirtation,  seems  to  have 
attracted  hen) 

Customs,   however,   then    differed    very    much    from 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  121 

those  that  now  reign  in  ballrooms.  In  one  way  every- 
thing was  more  formal,  in  another  more  simple.  The 
music,  the  wines,  and  the  floor  were  less  considered ; 
young  people  got  up  an  impromptu  dance  in  a  drawing- 
room  very  easily ;  and  the  champagne,  without  which  no 
one  would  dare  to  ask  their  friends  to  a  dance  now,  was 
then  not  considered  necessary.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
actual  performance  was  more  formal ;  there  were  no  romps 
at  lancers,  no  round  dances  such  as  waltzes  at  all ;  waltzes 
did  not  begin  to  be  danced  generally  until  18 14,  and  the 
polka  not  until  1844.  I^  the  beginning  of  18 14,  when 
the  waltz  was  just  coming  into  fashion,  Miss  Mitford 
declaims  against  it,  and  calls  it  this  "  detestable  dance." 
"  In  addition  to  the  obvious  reasons  which  all  women 
ought  to  have  for  disliking  it,  I  cannot  perceive  its  much 
vaunted  graces.  What  beauty  can  there  be  in  a  series 
of  dizzying  evolutions,  of  which  the  wearisome  monotony 
banishes  all  the  tricksy  fancies  of  the  poetry  of  motion, 
and  conveys  to  the  eyes  of  the  spectators  the  idea  of  a 
parcel  of  teetotums  set  a-spinning  for  their  amusement?" 
In  Jane's  time,  minuets,  cotillions,  etc.,  were  the  staple 
of  the  programme,  and  toward  the  end  of  the  evening 
country  dances,  no  doubt  danced  with  much  precision 
and  elegance.  Deportment  was  then  a  necessary  part 
of  the  curriculum  at  every  girls'  boarding-school ;  and 
the  ways  of  getting  in  and  out  of  a  carriage,  and  much 
more  of  bowing  and  entering  a  reception  room,  were  all 
taught  as  if  the  performer  were  to  go  upon  the  stage ; 
every  motion  was  regulated.  It  is  true  that  the  custom, 
so  aptly  illustrated  in  Evelina,  when  the  lady  was  forced 
by  politeness  to  accept  the  first  man  who  asked  her,  and 
to  remain  his  partner  for  the  evening,  a  custom  that 
must  have  been  responsible  for  many  sore  hearts  and 
spoiled  evenings,  had  gone  out  in  lane's  time.  /^But  it 
was  the  fashion,  at  what  were  called  private  dances,  for 


122  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

any  man  to  ask  any  gifl  he  fancied  to  become  his 
partner  without  previous  introductionj^  at  public  balls 
the  Master  of  the  Ceremonies  did  the  introducing.  In 
Evelina's  time,  girls  must  have  had  many  an  exciting 
evening,  many  an  anguished  moment  when  the  wrong 
man  asked  the  honour  of  their  hand  while  the  right  man 
had  not  come  forward  !  Evelina  made  a  terrible  mess 
of  things  at  her  first  dance.  She  refused  the  ridiculous 
little  fop  who  first  approached  her,  and  afterwards  ac- 
cepted the  handsome  and  engaging  Lord  Orville,  who, 
it  must  be  confessed,  is  a  far  superior  man  to  Miss 
Austen's  corresponding  hero,  Darcy.  Evelina  narrates 
her  acceptance  of  him  in  a  letter  to  her  guardian — 

"  Well,  I  bowed,  and  I  am  sure  I  coloured ;  for 
indeed  I  was  frightened  at  the  thoughts  of  dancing 
before  so  many  people,  all  strangers,  and,  which  was 
worse,  with  a  stranger ;  however,  that  was  unavoidable ; 
for,  though  I  looked  round  the  room  several  times,  I 
could  not  see  one  person  that  I  knew.  And  so  he  took 
my  hand  and  led  me  to  join  in  the  dance." 

Of  course  the  fop  was  not  one  to  take  this  con- 
sidered insult  quietly,  he  approached  when  Evelina  and 
Lord  Orville  were  sitting  out  between  the  dances,  and 
asked,  "  *  May  I  know  to  what  accident  I  must  attribute 
not  having  the  honour  of  your  hand  ? ' 

"  *  Accident,  sir,'  repeated  I  much  astonished. 

"  *  Yes,  accident,  madam, — for  surely — I  must  take 
the  liberty  to  observe — pardon  me,  madam, — it  ought 
to  be  no  common  one — that  should  tempt  a  lady — so 
young  a  one  too, — to  be  guilty  of  ill-manners.' 

"  A  confused  idea  now  for  the  first  time  entered  my 
head,  of  something  I  had  heard  of  the  rules  of  an 
assembly,  but  I  was  never  at  one  before — I  have  only 
danced  at  school — and  so  giddy  and  heedless  I  was, 
that  I  had  not  once  considered  the  impropriety  of  refus- 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  123 

ing  one  partner,  and  afterwards  accepting  another.  I 
was  thunderstruck  at  the  recollection   .  .  . 

"  I  afterwards  told  Mrs.  Mirvan  of  my  disasters,  and 
she  good-naturedly  blamed  herself  for  not  having  better 
instructed  me,  but  she  said  she  had  taken  it  for  granted 
that  I  must  know  such  common  customs." 

'^There  is  no  trace  of  such  a  custom  in  Jane's  times, 
her  partners  were  always  numerous.  At  the  dances  at 
Basingstoke  or  in  the  neighbourhood,  she  probably  knew 
almost  everyone  in  the  room  on  familiar  terms ;  and  she 
frequently  had  a  brother  with  her  to  counterbalance  the 
brothers  of  her  girl  friends.  She  danced  well,  with 
vivacity  and  grace ;  we  can  imagine  her  appearance 
without  difficulty ;  her  hair  encircled  by  some  neat 
bandeau  or  coquettish  bow,  her  high-waisted  simple 
frock  of  soft  white  muslin,  her  curls  escaping  in  little 
ringlets  on  forehead  and  shoulders,  her  hazel  eyes 
dancing    as    she    parried    the    conversational    thrusts   of 

some    too    bold    admirer,   euen as — hej:-_Q:^Q_J£li2sibeth 

BemieL__iiiight_JTave  done.  She  certainly  must  have 
been  popular ;  agirl  who  can  talk  wittily,  dance  well, 
and  who  is  bright  and  sweet-tempered  must  always  be 
in  demand.  (And  all  the  time  her  mind,  half  uncon- 
sciously, was  storing  up  the  little  words  and  gestures  of 
the  persons  around.  Everything  that  was  significant, 
everything  that  was  amusing  was  noted,  and  from  this 
storehouse  she  was  to  draw  many  a  scene  to  delight 
unnumbered  people  yet  unbornTj 

In  her  time,  the  acceptance  of  a  dance  still  carried 
with  it  two  dances,  or  the  twice  going  up  and  down  in 
the  minuet. 

Foolish  Mrs.  Bennet,  overflowing  with  the  events  of 
the  evening,  on  her  return  from  the  ball  with  her 
daughters,  thus  pours  out  her  soul  to  her  satirical 
husband — 


124  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

"  *  Jane  was  so  admired,  nothing  could  be  like  it. 
Everybody  said  how  well  she  looked ;  and  Mr.  Bingley 
thought  her  quite  beautiful,  and  danced  with  her  twice. 
Only  think  of  that,  my  dear,  he  actually  danced  with 
her  twice;  and  she  was  the  only  creature  in  the  room 
that  he  asked  a  second  time.  First  of  all  he  asked  Miss 
Lucas.  I  was  so  vexed  to  see  him  stand  up  with  her, 
however,  he  did  not  admire  her  at  all ;  indeed,  nobody 
can,  you  know ;  and  he  seemed  quite  struck  with  Jane 
as  she  was  going  down  the  dance.  So  he  inquired  who 
she  was,  and  got  introduced,  and  asked  her  for  the  two 
next.  Then  the  two  third  he  danced  with  Miss  King, 
and  the  two  fourth  with  Maria  Lucas,  and  the  two  fifth 
with  Jane  again,  and  the  two  sixth  with  Lizzy,  and 
the  Boulanger — '  " 

At  another  ball  poor  Elizabeth  has  Mr.  Collins  for 
a  partner — 

"  The  first  two  dances,  however,  brought  a  return  of 
distress  ;  they  were  dances  of  mortification.  Mr.  Collins, 
awkward  and  solemn,  apologising  instead  of  attending, 
and  often  moving  wrong  without  being  aware  of  it,  gave 
her  all  the  shame  and  misery  which  a  disagreeable 
partner  for  a  couple  of  dances  can  give."  ^ 

/  In  Northanger  Abbey  the  hero  and  heroine  first  meet 
ifi  the  Lower  Rooms  at  Bath  at  a  ball,  where  they  are 
introduced  by  the  Master  of  the  Ceremonies,  but  the 
subject  of  Bath  is  such  an  engrossing  one  that  it  must 
be  treated  separately  in  another  chapter.  In  public 
ballrooms  gentlemen  wore  swords,  and  ladies  carried 
enormous  fans ;  it  must  have  required  some  practice  to 
manage  these  respective  weapons  in  a  crowded  room. 
Mr.  Austen-Leigh  says  in  a  note,  "  Old  gentlemen  who 
had  survived  the  fashion  of  wearing  swords,  were  known 
to  regret  the  disuse  of  that  custom,  because  it  put  an 
end  to  one  way  of  distinguishing  those  who  had,  from 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  125 

those  who  had  not,  been  used  to  good  society.  To  wear 
the  sword  easily,  was  an  art  which,  Hke  swimming  or 
skating,  required   to  be  learned   in   youth."       j 

As  to  the  costumes  worn,  we  get  an  idea  of  Catherine 
norland's  dress  in  her  partner's  jocose  remark  describing 
the  "  sprigged  muslin  robe  with  blue  trimmings — plain 
black  shoes."  A  few  of  the  fashions  we  learn  from 
contemporary  newspapers,  which  thus  filled  their  columns 
when  foreign  news  was  scarce. 

T/ie  Times  remarks  facetiously, — for  The  Times  had 
not  learnt  to  take  its  high  office  seriously  in  those  days, 
— "  We  are  very  happy  to  see  the  waists  of  our  fair 
countrywomen  walking  downwards  by  degrees  towards 
the  hip.  But  as  we  are  a  little  acquainted  with  the 
laws  of  increasing  velocity  in  fashionable  gravitation,  we 
venture  to  express,  thus  early  in  their  descent,  a  hope 
that  they  will  stop  there."     (April  15,  1799.) 

About  this  time  fashion  required  ladies  to  wear  an 
enormous  pyramid  of  feathers  on  their  heads,  and  many 
were  the  jests  made  about  this  extraordinary  whim  of 
fashion — 

"  At  all  elegant  assemblies  there  is  a  room  set  apart 
for  the  lady  visitants  to  put  their  feathers  on,  as  it  is 
impossible  to  wear  them  in  any  carriage  with  a  top  to 
it.  The  lustres  are  also  removed  on  this  account,  and 
the  doors  are  carried  up  to  the  ceiling.  A  well-dressed 
lady,  who  nods  with  dexterity,  can  give  a  friend  a  little 
tap  upon  the  shoulder  across  the  room  without  incom- 
moding the  dancers.  The  ladies'  feathers  are  now 
generally  carried  in  the  sword  case  at  the  back  of  the 
carriage.     {The  Times y  December  29,  1795.) 

With  the  soft  light  of  wax  candles — even  nowadays 
sometimes  preferred  to  modern  brilliancy — shining  on 
the  long,  clinging  muslin  dresses,  the  arch  head-dresses 
and  nodding  plumes,  the  swords   and  the  fans,  a  ball- 


126  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

room  must  have  presented  a  most  animated  spectacle; 
added  to  which  the  dress  of  the  gentlemen  was  certainly 
far  more  picturesque  and  becoming  than  that  of  the 
present  day.  The  gay  satin  coats  and  ruffles,  the  knee- 
breeches  and  silk  stockings,  must  greatly  have  enlivened 
the  scene.  The  subject  of  dress  is  too  large  to  be 
treated  in  the  middle  of  such  a  chapter,  but  to  gain 
any  idea  of  the  balls  which  gave  Jane  Austen  so  much 
entertainment,  these  things  must  be  at  least  indicated. 

Apropos  of  the  minuet,  Mr.  Austen-Leigh  says :  "  It 
was  not  everyone  who  felt  qualified  to  make  this  public 
exhibition,  and  I  have  been  told  that  those  ladies  who 
intended  to  dance  minuets,  used  to  distinguish  themselves 
from  others  by  wearing  a  particular  kind  of  lappet  on 
their  headdress.  I  have  heard  also  of  another  curious 
proof  of  the  respect  in  which  this  dance  was  held. 
Gloves  immaculately  clean  were  considered  requisite  for 
its  due  performance,  while  gloves  a  little  soiled  were 
thought  good  enough  for  a  country  dance ;  and  accord- 
ingly some  prudent  ladies  provided  themselves  with  two 
pairs  for  their  several  purposes." 

^he  lady  of  the  greatest  distinction  in  the  room  was 
chosen  to  open  the  bajlj  Modest  Fanny  in  Mansfield 
Park  was  quite  overwhelmed  when  she  discovered  that 
she  was  expected  to  do  this,  in  the  absence  of  her 
cousins,  by  taking  the  first  part  in  the  minuet,  an  idea 
that  had  never  occurred  to  her  before.  "  She  found 
herself  the  next  moment  conducted  to  the  top  of  the 
room,  and  standing  there  to  be  joined  by  the  rest  of 
the  dancers,  couple  after  couple  as  they  were  formed.  .  .  . 
The  ball  began.  It  was  rather  honour  than  happiness 
to  Fanny  for  the  first  dance  at  least ;  her  partner  was  in 
excellent  spirits,  and  tried  to  impart  them  to  her ;  but  she 
was  a  great  deal  too  much  frightened  to  have  any  enjoy- 
ment till  she  could  suppose  herself  no  longer  looked  at." 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  127 

At  balls  there  was  generally  a  room  set  aside  for  the 
older  people  who  preferred  to  play  cards.  Mrs.  Lybbe 
Powys,  in  1777,  gives  an  account  of  a  fashionable  evening 
party — 

"  No  minuets  that  night ;  it  would  have  been  difficult 
without  a  master  of  ceremonies  among  so  many  people 
of  rank.  Two  card-rooms,  the  drawing-rooms  and 
eating-room.  The  latter  looked  so  elegant  lighted  up ; 
two  tables  at  loo,  one  quinze,  one  vingt-et-une,  many 
whist.  At  one  of  the  former  large  sums  passed  and 
repassed.  I  saw  one  lady  of  quality  borrow  ten  pieces 
of  Tessier  within  half  an  hour  after  she  sat  down  to 
vingt-une,  and  a  countess  at  loo,  who  owed  to  every  soul 
round  the  table  before  half  the  night  was  over.  The 
orgeat,  lemonade,  capillaire,  and  red  and  white  negus 
with  cakes,  were  carried  round  the  whole  evening.  At 
half  an  hour  after  twelve  the  supper  was  announced,  and 
the  hall  doors  thrown  open,  on  entering  which  nothing 
could  be  more  striking,  as  you  know  'tis  so  fine  a  one, 
and  was  then  illuminated  by  three  hundred  coloured 
lamps  round  the  six  doors,  over  the  chimney,  and  over 
the  statue  at  the  other  end.  .  .  .  The  tables  had  a  most 
pleasing  effect  ornamented  with  everything  in  the  con- 
fectionery way,  and  festoons  and  wreaths  of  artificial 
flowers  prettily  disposed ;  all  fruits  of  the  season  as 
grapes,  pines,  etc.,  fine  wines — ninety-two  sat  down  to 
supper.  .  .  .  The  once  so  beautiful  Lady  Almeria  I  think 
is  vastly  altered.  She  and  Lady  Harriot  Herbert  had 
the  new  trimmings,  very  like  bell  ropes  with  their  tassels, 
and  seemingly  very  inconvenient  in  dancing.  After 
supper  they  returned  to  dancing,  chiefly  then  cotillions, 
till  near  six." 

Cotillions  were  later  replaced  by  quadrilles.  In  1 8 1 6, 
Jane  writes  to  her  niece  Fanny — 

"  Much  obliged  for  the  quadrilles  which  I  am  grown 


128  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

to  think  pretty  enough,  though  of  course  they  are  very 
inferior  to  the  cotilHons  of  my  own  day." 

But  balls  were  not  the  only  recreations  Jane  and 
Cassandra  had ;  f^eople  were  very  sociable  in  those  days  ; 
the  sketch  of  Sir  John  Middleton's  horror  of  being  alone, 
and  his  delight  at  gathering  together  in  his  house  all  the 
acquaintances  whom  he  could  persuade  to  come,  is  only 
slightly  exaggerated  from  the  prevailing  spirit  of  his 
times.  People  were  always  running  over  to  see  each 
other,  always  spending  long  days  at  each  other's  houses ; 
hospitality  was  taken  for  granted,  and  was  too  common 
to  be  reckoned  a  virtuej  Jane  and  Cassandra  in  this 
way  were  continually  in  touch  with  their  nearest 
neighbours  at  Dcane  and  Ashe. 

It  is  impossible  to  resist  quoting  the  following 
malevolent  description  of  Jane  Austen,  so  unlike  any- 
thing we  know  of  her ;  it  was  given  to  Miss  Mitford 
by  a  lady  who,  it  is  admitted,  had  every  reason  to 
dislike  the  Austens,  for  her  brother-in-law  was  engaged 
in  a  lawsuit  with  Edward  Austen  (Knight),  trying  to  get 
away  from  him  one  of  his  estates !  This  lady  says  that 
Jane  had  "  stiffened  into  the  most  perpendicular,  precise, 
taciturn  piece  of  single  blessedness  that  ever  existed,  and 
that,  till  Pride  and  Prejudice  showed  what  a  precious 
gem  was  hidden  in  that  unbending  case,  she  was  no 
more  regarded  in  society  than  a  poker  or  a  fire  screen 
or  any  other  thin  upright  piece  of  wood  or  iron  that  fills 
its  corner  in  peace  and  quietness.  The  case  is  very 
different  now,  she  is  a  poker,  but  a  poker  of  whom 
evem)ne  is  afraid." 

LAnd  Mrs.  Mitford  professes  to  recollect  Jane  in  girl- 
hood as  being  "  the  prettiest,  silliest,  most  affected, 
husband  hunting  butterfly  "  she  ever  remembersj 

The  whole  tone  of  Jane's  own  writings  and  letters 
redeems    her    memory  from    any    possible    reproach    of 


/ 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  129 

affectation,  and  the  evidence  all  points  to  the  fact  that, 
though  not  averse  from  a  flirtation,  she  was  the  very  last 
of  all  girls  to  desire  a  husband !  But  it  is  of  interest  to 
record  contemporary  impressions,  so  as  to  show  both  sides 
of  the  shield. 

The  first  of  the  letters  in  Lord  Brabourne's  book 
contains  suggestions  of  a  subject  much  more  interesting 
than  mere  dancing  or  visiting.  In  the  case  of  an  author 
like  jjane  Austen,  w^ho  has  become  the  world's  property^ 
it  is  impossible  that  there  should  be  any  concealment  of 
those  affairs  of  the  heart  usually  reserved  for  private  con- 
fidence only.  To  fail  in  discussing  such  a  point  would 
be  to  leave  aside  a  whole  aspect  of  her  life  and  books. 
Jane  must  have  been  admired,  her  vivacity,  her  wit,  her 
gaiety  of  heart,  her  pleasant  person,  and  her  keen  enjoy- 
ment of  life  must  have  attracted  attention ;  we  know 
definitely  she  had  at  least  two  eligible  offers,  and  probably 
others,  as  she  was  the  very  last  person  to  boast  of  such 
things  openly,  [it  has  sometimes  happened  that  those 
most  worth  having  have  lived  and  died  single,  for  they 
are  too  fastidious,  too  difficult  to  please,  to  mate  readily, 
while  a  commonplace  girl  is  made  happy  by  the  addresses 
of  any  ordinary  man,  and  gladly  persuades  herself  to  be  in 
loveTj  Jane,  who  had  a  peculiar  and  deep  knowledge  of 
character,  could  not  be  easily  blinded,  she  would  have 
required  much  in  a  man,  and  men  no  doubt  instinctively 
knew  it.  Her  tongue,  we  know,  was  sharp,  she  had  a 
knack  of  saying  sharp  things,  and  those  who  did  not 
know  her  well  may  have  been  uneasy  under  her  pene- 
trating insight.  Those  who  did  know  her  may  have 
gathered  from  her  perfectly  spontaneous  manner  and 
absence  of  any  affectation  that  she  was  entirely  heart 
whole,  and  been  thus  discouraged  from  trying  their  fate. 
The  extract  naming  her  Irish  friend  has  already  been 
quoted,  this  referred  to  the  late  Lord  Chief  Justice  of 
9 


I30  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Ireland,  at  that  time  only  Tom  Lefroy,  whose  uncle 
was  Rector  of  Ashe,  adjoining  Deane,  and  with  whom 
Jane  seems  to  have  carried  on  a  lively  flirtation. 

After  telling  Cassandra  how  much  she  had  danced 
with  him,  she  adds,  "  I  can  expose  myself,  however,  only 
once  more,  because  he  leaves  the  country  soon  after  next 
Friday,  on  which  day  we  are  to  have  a  dance  at  Ashe 
after  all.  He  is  a  very  gentlemanlike,  good  looking, 
pleasant  young  man,  I  assure  you.  But  as  to  our  having 
ever  met,  except  at  the  three  last  balls,  I  cannot  say 
much ;  for  he  is  so  excessively  laughed  at  about  me  at 
Ashe,  that  he  is  ashamed  of  coming  to  Steventon,  and 
ran  away  when  we  called  on  Mrs.  Lefroy  a  few  days 
ago  .  .  .  After  I  had  written  the  above  we  received  a 
visit  from  Mr.  Tom  Lefroy  and  his  cousin  George." 

"  I  mean  to  confine  myself  in  future  to  Mr.  Tom 
Lefroy,  for  whom  I  don't  care  sixpence."  .  .  .  Friday. 
"  At  length  the  day  is  come  on  which  I  am  to  flirt  my 
last  with  Tom  Lefroy,  and  when  you  receive  this  it  will 
be  over.  My  tears  flow  as  I  write  at  the  melancholy 
idea." 

At  this  time  she  was  twenty-one,  and  he  twenty- 
three,  but  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  of  such  suscep- 
tible dispositions  as  many  young  men  and  women  of 
their  age. 

We  hear  of  Mr.  Lefroy  again  in  1798,  when  his  aunt 
has  been  calling  at  Steventon.  The  reference  is  a  little 
perplexing.  Jane  says  first,  speaking  of  Mrs.  Lefroy, 
"  Of  her  nephew  she  said  nothing  at  all,  and  of  her  friend 
very  little,"  and  a  few  sentences  further  on  remarks,  "  She 
showed  me  a  letter  which  she  had  received  from  her 
friend  a  few  weeks  ago,  toward  the  end  of  which  is  a 
sentence  to  this  effect,  *  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  of  Mrs. 
Austen's  illness.  It  would  give  me  particular  pleasure  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  improving  my  acquaintance  with 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  131 

that  family — with  the  hope  of  creating  to  myself  a  nearer 
interest.  But  at  present  I  cannot  indulge  any  expecta- 
tion of  it.'  This  is  rational  enough ;  there  is  less  love 
and  more  sense  in  it  than  sometimes  appeared  before, 
and  I  am  very  well  satisfied.  It  will  go  on  exceedingly 
well,  and  decline  away  in  a  very  reasonable  manner. 
There  seems  to  be  no  likelihood  of  his  coming  into 
Hampshire  this  Christmas,  and  it  is  therefore  most 
probable  that  our  indifference  will  soon  be  mutual,  unless 
his  regard,  which  appeared  to  spring  from  knowing 
nothing  of  me  at  first,  is  best  supported  by  never  seeing 
me." 

It  seems  evident,  therefore,  that  some  friend  who  had 
been  staying  at  Ashe  previously  had  also  shown  symptoms 
of  losing  his  heart  to  Jane,  who  did  not  take  his  affection 
seriously,  and  was  in  no  danger  of  losing  her  own.  Her 
prediction  seems  to  have  been  verified,  for  we  never  hear 
of  him  again,  unless  he  was  the  man  to  whom  Mr. 
Austen-Leigh  refers  when  he  says — 

"  In  her  youth  she  had  declined  the  addresses  of 
a  gentleman  who  had  the  recommendations  of  good 
character  and  connections,  and  position  of  life,  of  everything 
in  fact  except  the  subtle  power  of  touching  her  heart." 

The  other  offer  above  referred  to  was  made  to  her  in 
1802  by  someone  described  by  her  niece  Anna  as  a 
"  sensible  pleasant  man,"  but  he  also  failed  in  the  essential 
particular. 

Mr.  Austen-Leigh  tells  us  further  of  "  one  passage  of 
romance  in  her  history  with  which  I  am  imperfectly 
acquainted,  and  to  which  I  am  unable  to  assign  name,  or 
date,  or  place,  though  I  have  it  on  sufficient  authority. 
Many  years  after  her  death,  some  circumstances  induced 
her  sister  Cassandra  to  break  through  her  habitual 
reticence  and  to  speak  of  it.  She  said  that,  while  staying 
at  some  seaside  place,  they  became  acquainted  with  a 


132  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

gentleman,  whose  charm  of  person,  mind,  and  manners, 
was  such  that  Cassandra  thought  him  worthy  to  possess 
and  Hkely  to  win  her  sister's  love.  When  they  parted 
he  expressed  his  intention  of  soon  seeing  them  again,  and 
Cassandra  felt  no  doubt  as  to  his  motives.  But  they 
never  again  met.  Within  a  short  time  they  heard  of  his 
sudden  death." 

This  incident  may  seem  too  slight  and  unimportant 
even  for  reference,  but  in  reality  it  may  have  had  a  deep 
significance.  Those  who  have  studied  human  nature, 
know  that  there  are  here  and  there  among  both  men  and 
women,  minds  that  are  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than 
the  best.  A  temperament  like  Jane  Austen's,  where 
the  whole  nature  was  extremely  sensitive,  and  the  mind 
extremely  clear-sighted,  would  have  required  qualities  of 
the  heart  and  mind  in  a  man  to  be  loved  that  are  not  to 
I  /be  found  every  day.  \Jn  addition,  it  would  have  been 
^  quite  impossible  for  her  to  marry  any  man  from  respect 
only  or  simple  friendship.  Nothing  but  love  could  have 
carried  her  fastidious  nature  over  the  bound  of  matrimonyj? 
Such  natures  as  Jane's  are  not  facile :  not  for  them  the 
willing  self-deception  which  imagines  love  in  any  man 
who  is  an  admirer ;  not  for  them  the  blindness  which 
attributes  qualities  where  they  are  not,  nor  the  vanity 
which  credits  a  man  with  every  virtue  merely  because  he 
has  the  taste  to  prefer  them.  Many  marriages  are  made 
on  these  lines,  and  a  proportion  turn  out  well ;  but  the 
higher  natures,  standing  out  here  and  there,  require  a 
sounder  basis. 

The  incident  above  described  is  attributed  by  her 
niece  (Anna  Lefroy),  writing  many  years  later,  to  the  year 
1799  or  1800,  when  Jane  was  on  a  tour  in  Devonshire 
with  her  mother  and  sister,  and  other  writers  have  drawn 
from  it  the  inference  that  from  this  heart  distress  came  the 
inability  to  create,  and  that  it  thus  accounted  for  the  long 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  133 

interval  during  which  she  wrote  nothing  at  all.  This 
hardly  seems  likely,  or  at  all  events  there  were  many  other 
causes  equally  likely,  such  as  the  impossibility  of  getting 
her  MSS.  published,  which  may  have  militated  against 
her  adding  to  them,  and  her  own  father's  death  may  have 
been  a  shock  from  which  she  was  slow  to  recover. 

There  is  a  cryptic  sentence  in  the  correspondence  of 
1808  which  seems  to  show  that  her  heart  was  at  that 
time  touched,  and  that  she  expected  to  meet  someone 
who  was  an  object  of  great  interest  to  her.  She  was 
then  staying  at  Godmersham,  and  writes — 

"  I  have  been  so  kindly  pressed  to  stay  longer  here, 
in  consequence  of  an  offer  of  Henry's  to  take  me  back 
some  time  in  September,  that,  not  being  able  to  detail 
all  my  objections  to  such  a  plan,  I  have  felt  myself 
obliged  to  give  Edward  and  Elizabeth  one  private  reason 
for  my  wishing  to  be  at  home  in  July.  They  feel  the 
strength  of  it,  and  say  no  more,  and  one  can  rely  on 
their  secrecy.  After  this  I  hope  we  shall  not  be 
disappointed  of  our  friend's  visit ;  my  honour  as  well  as 
my  affection  will  be  concerned  in  it." 

If  these  words  had  occurred  some  years  earlier,  they 
would  seem  to  point  directly  to  that  visitor  whose 
coming  was  hindered  by  death,  but,  according  to  the 
niece's  account,  they  must  have  been  written  too  long 
after  this  incident  to  have  any  bearing  upon  it.  It  may 
be,  however,  that  Anna,  being  young  at  the  time,  and 
knowing  of  the  affair  only  by  hearsay,  was  mistaken ; 
and  in  any  case  she  does  not  authoritatively  state  the 
year  as  1799,  but  believes  it  to  have  been  about  then. 
If,  however,  the  first  meeting  had  taken  place  in  1805  ^^ 
1806,  this  remark  of  Jane's  might  allude  to  it,  for  no 
one  says  that  the  death  of  the  man  in  question  took 
place  immediately  after  she  knew  him,  but  only  before 
there  was  a  second   meeting.     Jane's  own  words,  "  my 


134  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

honour  as  well  as  my  affection,"  point  directly  to  some 
admirer,  for  she  would  feel  that  once  having  betrayed  her 
own  eagerness  to  her  brother  and  sister-in-law,  the  fact 
of  the  visitor's  not  taking  the  trouble  to  come  to  see  her 
would  appear  to  them  a  direct  slight.  The  reference 
can  hardly  have  been  to  anything  but  a  love-affair,  and 
her  own  eagerness  looks  as  if  she  were  in  earnest  at  last. 
If  the  words  cannot  be  taken  to  refer  to  the  known 
admirer,  they  must  certainly  have  referred  to  some  other ; 
and  as  nothing  more  is  heard  of  him,  perhaps  he  did  not 
come  as  she  anticipated,  and  she,  who  had  found  it  so 
difficult  to  take  the  proposals  of  others  seriously,  was 
herself  mistaken  when  she  was  in  earnest;  but  all  this  is 
mere  conjecture. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  review  of  Emma  in  the 
Quarterly^  finds  generally  in  Jane  Austen's  books  a 
deficiency  of  what  he  considers  romance,  and  he  thus 
indicts  her — 

*'  One  word,  however,  we  must  say  in  behalf  of  that 
once  powerful  divinity,  Cupid,  king  of  gods  and  men,  who 
in  these  times  of  revolution,  has  been  assailed,  even  in 
his  own  kingdom  of  romance,  by  the  authors  who  were 
formerly  his  devoted  priests.  We  are  quite  aware  that 
there  are  few  instances  of  first  attachment  being  brought 
to  a  happy  conclusion,  and  that  it  seldom  can  be  so 
in  a  state  of  society  so  highly  advanced  as  to  render 
early  marriages  among  the  better  classes  acts,  generally 
speaking,  of  imprudence.  But  the  youth  of  this  realm 
need  not  at  present  be  taught  the  doctrines  of  selfishness. 
It  is  by  no  means  their  error  to  give  the  world,  or  the 
good  things  of  the  world,  all  for  love;  and  before  the 
authors  of  moral  fiction  couple  Cupid  indivisibly  with 
calculating  prudence,  we  would  have  them  reflect  that 
they  may  sometimes  lend  their  aid  to  substitute  more 
mean,  more  sordid,  and  more  selfish  motives  of  conduct, 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  135 

for  the  romantic  feelings  which  their  predecessors  perhaps 
fanned  into  too  powerful  a  flame.  Who  is  it,  that  in 
his  youth  has  felt  a  virtuous  attachment,  however 
romantic,  or  however  unfortunate,  but  can  trace  back  to 
its  influence  much  that  his  character  may  possess  of  what 
is  honourable,  dignified,  and  disinterested  ?  " 

With  due  deference  to  the  opinion  of  the  greatest 
romancer  in  English  fiction,  he  begs  the  question  when 
he  inserts  the  words  "  however  unfortunate."  An 
unfortunate  love-affair  in  youth  exercises  without  doubt 
a  lasting  good  effect  on  any  man  who  has  grit  in  him,  it 
is  the  fortunate  ones  that,  paradoxically,  are  often  so 
unfortunate. 

Perhaps  no  word  in  the  English  language  has  ever 
been  misused  like  poor  "  romance  "  ;  Jane  was  not  devoid 
of  it,  in  almost  every  case  she  distinguishes  between  the 
real  and  the  false,  iMarianne's  silly  girlish  admiration  for 
Willoughby,  and  'Emma's  purely  imaginary  inclination 
toward  Frank  Churchill,  are  alike  shown  to  be  false,  and 
founded  only  on  that  fleeting  attraction  which  both  men 
and  women  in  early  youth  feel  for  the  admirable  person 
of  one  of  the  opposite  sex.  There  are  many  persons 
still  who  think  that  this  first  flush  of  passion  is  real 
romance ;  that  a  young  man  who,  at  the  most  susceptible 
moment  of  his  life,  sees  a  pretty  face,  and  falls  a  victim 
to  it,  perhaps  even  without  ever  having  spoken  to  its 
possessor,  has  struck  the  real  thing.  This  is  to  put  love 
on  the  lowest  basis  of  animalism.  The  beautiful  girl, 
whatever  the  nature  that  lies  beneath,  is  sought  by  a 
score  of  young  men  purely  because  she  arouses  in  them 
their  first  instincts  of  manhood,  but  perhaps  to  no  one  of 
them  is  she  the  real  mate.  Love,  that  true  deep  attrac- 
tion of  the  heart  and  mind,  does  not  come  so  readily,  nor 
is  it  induced  by  personal  attractions  without  further 
knowledge,  though  it  may  well  be  enhanced  by  them. 


136  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Many  and  many  a  man  takes  a  rash  step  into  marriage, 
solely  on  the  ground  of  external  attraction,  to  gratify  a 
youthful  impulse,  and  having  himself  fitted  the  harness 
to  his  shoulders,  spends  the  rest  of  his  life  in  accommo- 
dating himself  to  it,  without  making  the  process  of 
accommodation  too  patent  to  the  eyes  of  the  world.  If 
he  be  a  man  at  all,  he  realises  that  it  was  his  own  doing 
entirely,  and  he  must  bear  the  responsibility.  Such 
marriages  may,  if  the  two  be  malleable  and  adaptable, 
turn  out  happily  enough,  especially  if,  as  does  sometimes 
happen,  love  comes  after  marriage,  but  the  risk  is  a 
terrible  one  to  take.  The  perpetuation  of  the  race  is  the 
most  urgent  necessity,  so  nature  takes  care  to  secure  it 
at  all  risks  to  the  happiness  of  individuals ;  and  certainly 
were  it  not  for  the  indulgence  of  this  momentary  madness 
of  youth,  which  oddly  enough  Sir  Walter  seems  to  regard 
as  a  form  of  unselfishness,  the  world  would  have  fewer 
married  couples  in  it. 

When  Jane  depicted  the  slow  growth  of  Emma's 
love  for  Knightley,  she  drew  wisely.  Lord  Brabourne 
has  remarked  that  he  wished  Emma  had  married  Frank 
Churchill,  and  herein  he  shows  his  own  superficial  view  of 
human  nature.  Emma  was  a  strong  character  strongly 
developed.  She  must  either  have  married,  for  her  own 
happiness,  a  man  who  was  her  master,  or  one  whom  she 
could  completely  guide  ;  the  world  usually  accords  the 
latter  kind  of  marriage  to  such  natures,  and  in  the 
character  of  Elinor  Dashwood,  who  in  some  ways  resembles 
Emma,  we  see  this  alternative  match,  for  she  marries  the 
hopelessly  weak  Edward  Ferrars ;  but  Emma's  was  the 
better  match ;  for  many  a  man  has  discovered  for  him- 
self that  when  a  strong  nature  finds  its  master  it  gives  a 
far  higher  and  nobler  love  and  obedience  than  that  given 
by  a  shallow  one  whose  opinions  and  ideas  are  merely 
wisps  of  fancy.      Emma  recognised  that  Knightley  was 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  137 

her  master,  his  quiet  audacity,  his  failure  to  join  in  the 
general  paean  of  flattery  she  received,  his  manliness  in 
controlling  his  own  feelings,  appealed  to  her,  and  we 
may  feel  sure  that  her  self-surrender  just  gave  that  finish- 
ing touch  of  softening  to  her  nature  which  it  needed ;  as 
a  loving  wife  with  full  confidence  in  the  judgment  and 
principle  of  the  man  she  had  chosen,  she  would  grow 
softer  and  kindlier  every  day  of  her  life.  She  and  Frank 
Churchill  would  very  soon  have  been  disgusted  with  each 
other,  for  he  was  not  so  weak  as  to  have  surrendered 
entirely  to  her  authority,  and  constant  friction  would 
have  been  the  result  of  their  mating,  [jane  Austen  does 
not  make  her  ideal  marriage  a  mere  cementing  of  friend- 
ship, she  recognises  that  to  be  perfect  it  must  have  that 
element  of  personal  attraction  which,  to  fastidious  minds, 
alone  makes  marriage  possible^  (Vlr,  Knightley  was 
Emma's  friend  and  adviser  from  the  firstj  but  not  until 
her  inclination  for  him  was  revealed  in  a  lightning  flash 
did  the  idea  of  marrying  him  enter  her  head.  The 
diflerence  between  this  personal  inclination  and  the 
fantasy  of  youth  is,  that  what  is  cause  in  the  one  is  effect 
in  the  other.  In  the  case  of  real  love,  the  personal 
appearance  is  loved  because  of  the  personality  behind  it ; 
in  the  spurious  attraction  the  personal  appearance  is  the 
first  consequence,  and  the  character  behind  it  is  idealised, 
with  the  constant  result  of  woeful  disillusionment.]  In 
one  place  Jane  shows  how  fully  she  realised  the  difference 
between  the  true  and  the  false  by  a  little  saying,  "  Three 
and  twenty — a  period  when,  if  a  man  chooses  a  wife,  he 
generally  chooses  ill." 

In  the  softest  and  most  tender  of  her  books. 
Persuasion^  she  gives  a  beautiful  picture  of  a  girl's  real 
love,  a  love  which  lasted  through  time  and  brought 
out  what  was  best  in  the  character,  and  in  one  of 
the  most  charming   scenes   in    this  novel,  Anne  Elliot, 


138  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

the  heroine,  gives  her  views  on  men's  and  women's 
constancy  thus — 

"  *  Your  [men's]  feelings  may  be  the  strongest/ 
replied  Anne,  *  but  the  same  spirit  of  analogy  will 
authorise  me  to  assert  that  ours  are  the  most  tender. 
Man  is  more  robust  that  woman,  but  he  is  not  longer 
lived  ;  which  exactly  explains  my  view  of  the  nature 
of  their  attachments.  Nay,  it  would  be  too  hard  upon 
you  if  it  were  otherwise.  You  have  difficulties,  and 
privations,  and  dangers  enough  to  struggle  with.  You 
are  always  labouring  and  toiling,  exposed  to  every 
risk  and  hardship.  Your  home,  country,  friends,  all 
quitted.  Neither  time,  nor  health,  nor  life  to  be 
called  your  own.  It  would  be  too  hard  indeed  if 
(with  a  faltering  voice)  woman's  feelings  were  to  be 
added  to  all  this.'" 

This,  in  spite  of  its  somewhat  glorified  view  of  an 
ordinary  man's  career,  is  very  touching,  and  still  more 
so  what  follows — 

"  *  We  can  never  expect  to  prove  anything  upon 
such  a  point.  It  is  a  difference  of  opinion  which  does 
not  admit  of  proof.  We  each  begin  probably  with  a 
little  bias  towards  our  own  sex ;  and  upon  that  bias 
build  every  circumstance  in  favour  of  it  which  has 
occurred  within  our  own  circle.  ...  I  hope  to  do 
justice  to  all  that  is  felt  by  you — I  believe  you  capable 
of  everything  great  and  good  in  your  married  lives. 
I  believe  you  equal  to  every  important  exertion  and 
to  every  domestic  forbearance,  so  long  as — if  I  may 
be  allowed  the  expression — so  long  as  you  have  an 
object.  I  mean  while  the  woman  you  love  lives  and 
lives  for  you.  All  the  privilege  I  claim  for  my  own 
sex  (it  is  not  a  very  enviable  one,  you  need  not 
covet  it)  is  that  of  loving  longest,  when  existence  or 
when   hope  is  gone.' " 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  139 

\Natures  which  set  their  all  on  the  chance  of  such 
a  high  throw  as  the  demand  for  a  marriage  combining 
personal  attraction  and  real  suitability  of  character, 
know  well  that  it  is  not  likely  that  they  will  win ; 
people  who  ask  only  for  personal  attraction,  and  risk 
all  the  rest,  are  in  different  casej  But  it  is  remarkable 
how  ^e  growing  generation  of  men  are  learning  to 
look  below  the  surface  and  to  take  some  trouble  to 
find  out  the  character  of  the  girl  who  has  attracted 
them  before  binding  themselves ;  men,  even  young  men, 
do  not  rush  into  marriage  with  the  same  lack  of  all 
self-control  that  a  previous  generation  did.  With  the 
evaporation  of  the  sentimentality  of  the  Victorian 
period  there  has  come  also  a  far  higher  ideal  of 
marriage,  and  a  man  demands  more  of  his  wife  than 
evanescent  personal  attractions/] 

Though  Jane  set  love  at  a  high  altitude,  she  was 
perfectly  free  from  false  sentiment  or  silly  sentimentality. 
She  says  in  one  place  of  a  man  who  loves  hopelessly, 
"  It  is  no  creed  of  mine,  as  you  must  be  well  aware, 
that  such  sorts  of  disappointments  kill  anybody." 

And  her  delightful  sense  of  humour  shows  up  in 
an  inimitable  light  the  foolish  weakness  of  a  girl 
suffering  from  a  purely  imaginary  love  -  affair.  The 
occasion  is  after  the  df^illusionment  of  poor  sentimental 
Harriet  as  to  the  real  feelings  of  Mr.  Elton,  whom 
she  had  been  encouraged  by  Emma  to  regard  as  an 
unexpressed  lover.  "  Harriet  came  one  morning  to 
Emma  with  a  small  parcel  in  her  hand,  and  after 
sitting  down  and  hesitating  thus  began — 

" '  Miss  Woodhouse,  if  you  are  at  leisure,  I  have 
something  that  I  should  like  to  tell  you  ;  a  sort  of  con- 
fession to  make — and  then  you  know  it  will  be  over.' 

"  Emma  was  a  good  deal  surprised,  but  begged  her 
to  speak.  .  .  . 


140  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

"  *  How  could  I  be  so  long  fancying  myself — ,'  cried 
Harriet  warmly.  *  It  seems  like  madness !  I  can  see 
nothing  at  all  extraordinary  in  him  now,  I  do  not  care 
whether  I  meet  him  or  not,  except  that  of  the  two  I 
had  rather  not  see  him ;  and  indeed  I  would  go  any 
distance  round  to  avoid  him,  but  I  do  not  envy  his 
wife  in  the  least ;  I  neither  admire  her  nor  envy  her 
as  I  have  done.  She  is  very  charming,  I  daresay,  and 
all  that,  but  I  think  her  very  ill-tempered  and  disagree- 
able ;  I  shall  never  forget  her  look  the  other  night. 
However,  I  assure  you,  Miss  Woodhouse,  I  wish  her 
no  evil.  No,  let  them  be  ever  so  happy  together,  it 
will  not  give  me  another  moment's  pang ;  and,  to 
convince  you  that  I  have  been  speaking  the  truth,  I 
am  now  going  to  destroy  —  what  I  ought  to  have 
destroyed  long  ago  —  what  I  ought  never  to  have 
kept ;  I  know  that  very  well  (blushing  as  she  spoke). 
However,  now  I  will  destroy  it  all,  and  it  is  my 
particular  wish  to  do  it  in  your  presence,  that  you 
may  see  how  rational  I  am  grown.  Cannot  you  guess 
what  this  parcel  holds  ? '  said  she  with  a  conscious 
look. 

" '  Not  the  least  in  the  world.  Did  he  ever  give 
you  anything  ? ' 

"  *  No,  I  cannot  call  them  gifts,  but  they  are  things 
that  I  have  valued  very  much.' 

"  She  held  the  parcel  towards  her  and  Emma  read 
the  words,  '  Most  precious  treasures '  on  the  top.  Her 
curiosity  was  greatly  excited.  Harriet  unfolded  the 
parcel  and  she  looked  on  with  impatience.  Within 
abundance  of  silver  paper  was  a  pretty  little  Tunbridge- 
ware  box,  which  Harriet  opened ;  it  was  well  lined  with 
the  softest  cotton ;  but  excepting  the  cotton,  Emma  saw 
only  a  small  piece  of  court-plaister. 

"  *  Now,'  said  Harriet,  *  you  must  recollect.' 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  141 

" '  No,  indeed,  I  do  not/ 

" '  Dear  me  !  I  should  not  have  thought  it  possible 
that  you  could  forget  what  passed  in  this  very  room 
about  court-plaister,  one  of  the  very  last  times  we  ever 
met  in  it.  .  .  .  Do  not  you  remember  his  cutting  his 
finger  with  your  new  pen-knife,  and  your  recommending 
court-plaister?  But,  as  you  had  none  about  you,  and 
knew  I  had,  you  desired  me  to  supply  him ;  and  so 
I  took  mine  out,  and  cut  him  a  piece ;  but  it  was  a 
great  deal  too  large,  and  he  cut  it  smaller,  and  kept 
playing  some  time  with  what  was  left  before  he  gave 
it  back  to  me.  And  so  then,  in  my  nonsense,  I  could 
not  help  making  a  treasure  of  it ;  so  I  put  it  by,  never 
to  be  used,  and  looked  at  it  now  and  then  as  a  great 
treat/ 

"  *  My  dearest  Harriet ! '  cried  Emma,  putting  her 
hands  before  her  face,  and  jumping  up,  ...  *  And  so 
you  actually  put  this  piece  of  court-plaister  by  for  his 
sake,'  .  .  .  and  secretly  she  added  to  herself,  *  Lord 
bless  me !  when  should  I  ever  have  thought  of  putting 
by  in  cotton  a  piece  of  court  -  plaister  that  Frank 
Churchill  had  been  pulling  about !  I  never  was  equal 
to  this/ 

"  *  Here/  resumed  Harriet,  turning  to  her  box  again, 
*  here  is  something  still  more  valuable, — I  mean  that 
/las  been  more  valuable, — because  this  is  what  did 
really  once  belong  to  him,  which  the  court  -  plaister 
never  did/ 

"  Emma  was  quite  eager  to  see  this  superior 
treasure.  It  was  the  end  of  an  old  pencil,  the  part 
without  any  lead. 

"  *  This  was  really  his/  said  Harriet.  *  Do  not  you 
remember  one  morning?  ...  I  forget  exactly  the  day 
.  .  .  he  wanted  to  make  a  memorandum  in  his  pocket- 
book  ;  it  was  about  spruce  beer  .  .  .  and  he  wanted  to 


f- 


142  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

put  it  down ;  but  when  he  took  out  his  pencil  there 
was  so  little  lead  that  he  soon  cut  it  all  away,  and  it 
would  not  do,  so  you  lent  him  another,  and  this  was 
left  upon  the  table  as  good  for  nothing.  But  I  kept 
my  eye  upon  it ;  and,  as  soon  as  I  dared,  caught 
it  up,  and  never  parted  with  it  again  from  that 
moment'  .  .  . 

" '  My  poor  dear  Harriet !  and  have  you  actually 
found  happiness  in  treasuring  up  these  things  ? ' 

"  *  Yes,  simpleton  as  I  was !  —  but  I  am  quite 
ashamed  of  it  now,  and  wish  I  could  forget  as  easily 
as  I  can  burn  them.  It  was  very  wrong  of  me,  you 
know,  to  keep  any  remembrances  after  he  was  married. 
I  knew  it  was — but  had  not  resolution  enough  to  part 
with  them.' " 

This  is  pure  comedy ! 

In  Jane  Austen's  day  there  certainly  was  an  open- 
ness in  the  arrangements  about  marriage  that  jars  on 
\y    our   more   reticent   minds.    \0f  course   it   is   undeniable 

IK"*. 

that  at  that  time  a  girl's  only  vocation,  unless  she 
happened  to  be  a  genius,  was  marriage,  but  the  way 
in  which  suitability  as  to  means  and  position  were 
frequently  considered  as  of  all  importance,  and  love 
merely  as  a  secondary  consideration,  is  slightly  per- 
turbin^fjane  Austen's  high  ideal  of  marriage  must 
have  beenrarer  then  than  at  the  present  tinfie7\  Perhaps 
the  best  example  of  the  shameless  discussion  of  the 
mariage  de  convenance  in  the  novels  is  the  interview 
between  Elinor  Dashwood  and  her  brother,  when  Colonel 
Brandon  has  shown  some  slight  attention  to  her.  Her 
brother  begins  by  asking — 

"  ^  Who    is    Colonel    Brandon  ?       Is    he    a    man    of 
fortune  ? ' 

"  *  Yes,  he  has  very  good  property  in  Dorsetshire.' 
"  *  I  am  glad  of  it.      He  seems  a  most  gentlemanlike 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  143 

man ;  and  I  think,  Elinor,  I  may  congratulate  you  on 
the  prospect  of  a  very  respectable  establishment  in 
life.' 

"  *  Me,  brother !  what  do  you  mean  ?  ' 

"  *  He  likes  you.  I  observed  him  narrowly,  and  am 
convinced  of  it.     What  is  the  amount  of  his  fortune  ?  * 

"  *  I  believe  about  two  thousand  a  year.' 

"  '  Two  thousand  a  year  ! '  Then  working  himself 
up  to  a  pitch  of  enthusiastic  generosity,  he  added, 
*  Elinor,  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  it  were  twice  as 
much  for  your  sake.' 

"  *  Indeed,  I  believe  you,'  replied  Elinor,  '  but  I  am 
very  sure  that  Colonel  Brandon  has  not  the  smallest 
wish  of  marrying  me.' 

" '  You  are  mistaken,  Elinor ;  you  are  very  much 
mistaken.  /A  very  little  trouble  on  your  side  secures 
him.\  Perhaps  just  at  present  he  may  be  undecided; 
the  smallness  of  your  fortune  may  make  him  hang 
back ;  his  friends  may  all  advise  him  against  it.  ^ut 
some  of  those  little  attentions  and  encouragements 
which  ladies  can  so  easily  give  will  fix  him  in  spite 
of  himself;  }  And  there  can  be  no  reason  why  you 
should  not  try  for  him.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
any  prior  attachment  on  your  side — in  short  you  know, 
as  to  an  attachment  of  that  kind  it  is  quite  out  of  the 
question,  the  objections  are  insurmountable  —  Colonel 
Brandon  must  be  the  man ;  and  no  civility  shall  be 
wanting  on  my  part  to  make  him  pleased  with  you 
and  your  family.  It  is  a  match  that  must  give  universal 
satisfaction.' " 

The  "  prior  attachment "  was  that  to  his  own  brother- 
in-law,  Edward  Ferrars,  for  whom  his  wife  hoped  to  get 
a  better  match,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  man  in 
question.  Colonel  Brandon,  was  not  in  love  with  Elinor, 
but  with  her  impulsive  sister,  Marianne,  who  was  wasting 


V 


144  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

away   under    the    slights    of  Willoughby.     Of  her,   her 
brother  kindly  remarks — 

"  ^t  her  time  of  life,  anything  of  an  illness  destroys 
the  bloom  for  ever !  Hers  has  been  a  very  short  one  ! 
She  was  as  handsome  a  girl  last  September  as  ever  I 
saw,  and  as  likely  to  attract  the  men.  There  was  some- 
thing in  her  style  of  beauty  to  please  them  particularly. 
I  remember  Fanny  used  to  say  she  would  marry  sooner 
and  better  than  you  didjjshe  will  be  mistaken,  however. 
I  question  whether  Marianne  now  will  marry  a  man 
worth  more  than  five  or  six  hundred  a  year  at  the 
utmost,  and  I  am  very  much  deceived  if  you  do  not 
do  better.' 

"  Elinor  tried  very  seriously  to  convince  him  that 
there  was  no  likelihood  of  her  marrying  Colonel 
Brandon,  but  it  was  an  expectation  of  too  much 
pleasure  to  himself  to  be  relinquished.  .  .  .  He  had 
just  compunction  enough  for  having  done  nothing  for 
his  sisters  himself  to  be  exceedingly  anxious  that 
everyone  else  should  do  a  great  deal." 

And  John  Dashwood's  idea  of  the  barter  of  women 
for  so  much,  according  to  their  attractions,  though  it 
differed  not  in  essentials  from  that  of  a  Circassian 
slave-dealer,  was  quite  an  ordinary  one.  (Jhe  un- 
blushing eagerness  with  which  any  heiress  was  literally 
pursued,  the  desperate  devices  to  get  portionless 
daughters  marrieJj  doubtless  have  their  counterparts 
now,  but  they  are  not  so  prominent ;  portionless 
daughters  of  wit  and  talent  can  make  lives  for  them- 
selves, independent  of  matrimony,  and  heiress  hunters 
have  at  least  the  decency  to  pretend  they  are  in 
love. 

In  view  of  the  ideas  of  her  times,  Jane_*s  ideal  of 
marriage  stands  out  conspicuously.  She  wanted  all 
her"  heroines  to  have  every  probability  of  happiness  in 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  145 

the  marriage  state,  and  though  perhaps  she  did  not 
consciously  set  to  work  to  consider  what  would  make 
them  so  in  so  many  words,  it  is  remarkable  that  certain 
2oints  which,  from  her  own  observations  of  the  human 
race,  were  the  best  foundations  for  married  happiness, 
are  to  be  found  in  every  one  of  the  marriages  of  her 
principal  characters.  The  first  essential  which  we  have  . 
already  touched  upon  was  suitability  ^_^_  cliara,qter.  '^  ^ 
Poor  Marianne  Dashwood  and*"tlie  ardent  Wllloughby 
would  have  tried  each  other  desperately  with  the 
vehemence  of  their  enthusiasm ;  in  six  months  they 
would  have  loathed  each  other  as  ardently  as  they  had 
loved,  therefore  Marianne  is  not  allowed  to  marry 
Willoughby,  but  mates  with  Colonel  Brandon,  the  sort 
of  man  who  would  exercise  an  unconscious  influence 
over  her,  teaching  her  self-control,  and  who  would  be 
kindly  indulgent  to  her  whims  and  wishes,  not  clashing 
with  them  on  his  own  account. 

The    second    essential,    which    is    fulfilled    in    every 
case  of  the  principal   characters   in    the    novels,  is   that    ^  U 
the    marriages    are    real     unions,    not    those    accidental 
associations  which  arcbased  on  imagination.  ^'Her  men 

,IT—  "     **  '^■ 

and  women  get  to  know  each  other  thoroughly  by 
constant  intercourse,  until  the  faults  and  virtues,  the 
defects  and  abilities,  are  clear  and  plain.  Jane  knew 
that  real  love  may  begin  by  attraction,  but  must  be 
built  upon  knowledge^  An  not  a  single  case  is  a  v 
pretty  face  or  a  handsome  person  the  reason  for  a  man's '^ 
or  woman's  falling  in  lovjeT}  Darcy  considers  Elizabeth 
Bennet  only  "  tolerable "  when  he  first  sees  her,  it  is 
when  he  begins  to  care  for  her  that  he  notes  her  "  fine 
eyes."  Though  Catherine  Morland  was  a  pretty  girl, 
it  was  not  that  which  won  Henry  Tilney,  but  her 
naive  adoration  of  himself,  and  her  sweet  sincerity. 
Edmund  Bertram  runs  after  Miss  Crawford  for  a  time, 
10 


^(S 


146  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

but  it  is   the   excellence   of  Fanny's   mind  which  gives 
him  his  life's  happiness,  and  so  on  through  all. 

The  third  essential  in  Jane's  mind  was  evidently 
that  the  love  of  the  two  should  hp  mntnal.  [in  every 
case  her  heroine  is  genuinely  in  love  before  she  gives 
her  consent  to  marriage^  Fanny  Bertram  of  course 
knew  her  own  love  for  Edmund  long  before  his  eyes 
were  opened  to  the  need  he  had  for  her.  Anne  Elliot 
had  bitterly  regretted  for  many  weary  years  the  fatal 
compliance  with  the  wishes  of  her  friends  which  had 
separated  her  from  the  man  she  loved,  and  when  he 
returns  only  to  pay  attentions  to  another,  and  she 
imagines  she  has  lost  him  for  ever,  she  still  never 
swerves  in  her  loyalty  to  him.  Poor  Elinor  has  the 
mortification  of  hearing  from  the  lips  of  a  rival  that 
Edward  Ferrars  is  engaged  to  her,  but  still  her  choice 
never  falters.  For  women  of  this  kind,  women  of 
fine  character,  marriage  without  love  is  impossible ;  in 
the  abstract  it  is  not  a  necessity,  as  it  often  seems  to 
be  to  a  man  ;{if  they  cannot  have  the  one  man  they 
love,  they  will  infinitely  <  prefer  to  remain  single?}  We 
must  admit  that,  as  Anne  Elliot  says,  the  power  of 
loving  longest  remains  with  women,  only  we  should 
amend  to  the  extent  of  saying  with  the  noblest  women. 
•^  Many  men  hold  that  woman's  love  is  not  essential 

)       to  a  happy  marriage,  so  long  as  they  are  in  love  with 
\      the  woman  they  make   their  wife  they  think  that    her 
j    love  is  not  necessary.     This  arises  purely  from  want  of 
\    imagination.     They  themselves,  marrying  a  woman  they 
--passionately    admire,    start   with    all    the    glamour   and 
glory  which  suffices  to  veil  the  difficult  beginnings  of  a 
menage  a   deux;    but   the   woman,   who   enters   without 
this  help,  has  to  expend  an  immense  amount  of  patience 
and  self-control  over  wearisome  domestic  details,  w^hich 
would    be  transformed  into  pure    joy    if  she    also    saw 


SOCIETY  AND  LOVE-MAKING  147 

through  a  glorified  atmosphere.  A  match  where  the 
woman  does  not  love  is  very  hard  on  her.  It  is,  of 
course,  perfectly  true  that  the  ardent  love  of  a  man 
has  often  won  a  woman's  love  in  return  ;  many  a  happy 
marriage  has  sprung  from  this  beginning ;  but  any  man 
who  is  not  more  selfish  than  the  rest  of  his  sex,  should 
try  to  assure  himself  that  the  love  is  there  before 
marriage. 

Of  course  to  a  man  it  is  incredible  that^irls  will 
consent  to  marry  when  they  do  not  lovejj\'hy  should 
they  ?  One  knows  it  is  not  always  the  prospect  of  a 
home  and  maintenance,  one  would  scorn  to  assess  woman's 
nature  at  so  low  a  rate,  ^here  is  no  real  explanation, 
though  possibly  dense  ignorance  and  girlish  impulse 
toward  the  excitement,  and  the  trivial  accessories  of  a 
bride's  position,  may  be  the  most  usual  contributory 
causes^  If  this  is  so,  as  woman  increases  in  intelligence 
and  reasonable  knowledge,  that  is  to  say,  as  she  becomes 
more  fit  to  be  a  real  mate  to  man,  so  will  man  find  it 
increasingly  difficult  to  persuade  her  into  a  one-sided-love 
marriage,  oftentimes  so  disastrous  to  both,  and  at  the 
best  such  a  makeshift  for  what  might  be. 


CHAPTER   VllI 
VISITS  AND  TRAVELLING 

JANE  AUSTEN'S  life  was  very  largely  passed  among 
her  own  relations,  her  visits  away  from  home  were 
nearly  always  to  the  houses  of  her  brothers. 
In  the  August  of  1796  she  went  to  stay  with  her 
brother  Edward,  at  Rowling,  a  little  place  in  Kent, 
near  Goodnestone.  Edward  had  been  married  for  some 
time  to  Elizabeth  Bridges,  daughter  of  Sir  Brook  Bridges 
of  Goodnestone.  He  had,  as  has  been  already  stated, 
been  adopted  by  his  relative,  Mr.  Knight  of  Godmersham 
in  Kent  and  Chawton  in  Hampshire,  and  had  taken 
his  name.  This  Mr.  Knight  had  died  two  years 
previously,  and  left  Edward  his  heir,  subject  to  the 
widow's  life-interest,  but  Mrs.  Knight  herself  loved 
Edward  like  a  son  and  retired  from  Godmersham  in 
his  favour.  At  this  date,  however,  the  family  had  not 
yet  moved  there,  but  continued  to  live  at  Rowling.  Of 
the  pleasant  country  life  at  Rowling  we  get  several 
graphic  touches.  "  We  were  at  a  ball  on  Saturday,  I 
assure  you.  We  dined  at  Goodnestone,  and  in  the 
evening  danced  two  country  dances  and  the  Boulangeries. 
I  opened  the  ball  with  Edward  Bridges ;  the  other 
couples  were  Lewis  Cage  and  Harriet,  Frank  and  Louisa, 
Fanny  and  George.  Elizabeth  played  one  country  dance. 
Lady  Bridges  the  other,  which  she  made  Henry  dance 
with  her,  and  Miss  Finch  played  the  Boulangeries." 

148 


VISITS  AND  TRAVELLING  149 

The  Boulangeries  seems  to  have  been  an  innova- 
tion adopted  from  France,  and  occasionally  formed  the 
last  figure  of  a  quadrille,  which  had  many  variations, 
"  either  with  a  '  Chassecroise,'  or  with  '  la  houlangere,' 
*  la  corbeille,'  '  le  Moulinet,'  or  *  la  ste  Simonienne.'  " 

Of  the  couples  mentioned  above,  Lewis  Cage  had 
married  Fanny  Bridges ;  Harriet  and  Louisa  were  two 
young  unmarried  sisters ;  Frank  and  Henry,  Jane's 
brothers.  Henry  Austen  seems  to  have  been  of  a 
very  unsettled  disposition ;  in  Jane's  first  letter  she 
says, — "  Henry  is  still  hankering  after  the  Regulars,  and 
as  his  project  of  purchasing  the  adjutancy  of  the 
Oxfordshire  is  now  over,  he  has  got  a  scheme  in  his 
head  about  getting  a  lieutenancy  and  adjutancy  in  the 
86th.,  a  new  raised  regiment,  which  he  fancies  will  be 
ordered  to  the  Cape  of  Good   Hope." 

Later  on  Henry  became  Receiver  -  General  for 
Oxfordshire,  afterwards  he  was  partner  in  a  bank,  and 
when  the  bank  broke  in  i  8 1 6,  he  took  Orders,  and  on 
the  death  of  his  brother  James  he  held  the  living  of 
Steventon  for  a  short  time  until  one  of  his  brother 
Edward's  younger  boys  was  ready  for  it. 

After  the  impromptu  evening's  entertainment  at 
Goodnestone  the  party  walked  home  under  the  shade 
of  two  umbrellas.  Another  day  they  dined  at 
Nackington,  returning  by  moonlight  in  two  carriages. 

Visits  were  of  long  duration  in  days  when  getting 
about  was  so  costly  and  difficult  a  process ;  Jane  stayed 
on  with  her  brother  until  October,  and  in  September 
she  records  :  "  Edward  and  Fly  went  out  yesterday  very 
early  in  a  couple  of  shooting  jackets,  and  came  home 
like  a  couple  of  bad  shots,  for  they  killed  nothing  at  all. 
They  are  out  again  to-day,  and  are  not  yet  returned. 
Delightful  sport !  They  are  just  come  home,  Edward 
with   his   two  brace,   Frank   with   his   two    and   a   half. 


150  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

What  amiable  young  men  !  "  She  also  records  :  "  We 
are  very  busy  making  Edward's  shirts  and  I  am  proud 
to  say  I  am  the  neatest  worker  of  the  party " ;  and 
again,  *'  Little  Edward  [her  brother's  eldest  boy]  was 
breeched  yesterday  for  good  and  all,  and  was  whipped 
into  the  bargain." 

This  is  very  small  beer,  but  it  suffices  to  give  a  sketch 
of  the  pleasant  family  life,  where  half  the  neighbours 
were  related  to  each  other  and  on  cordial  terms,  where 
entertainments  were  simple  and  spontaneous,  though  it 
was  an  age  that  we  are  accustomed  to  regard  as  one 
of  the  most  formal  in  social  history. 

Jane  alludes  to  her  difficulties  of  tipping.  "  I  am 
in  great  distress.  I  cannot  determine  whether  I  shall 
give  Richis  half  a  guinea  or  only  five  shillings  when  I  go 
away.  Counsel  me,  most  amiable  Miss  Austen,  and 
tell  me  which  will  be  the  most." 

We  are  accustomed  to  consider  our  own  age  as 
lying  under  the  thraldom  of  tips,  as  none  ever  did 
before,  but  it  is  nothing  to  what  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  in  this  respect.  When  people  went  to 
dinner  they  were  expected  to  tip  the  servants,  who 
sometimes  stood  in  long  rows  in  the  hall  waiting  the 
customary  douceur. 

As  for  hotels,  they  were  worse  than  to-day,  for  it 
must  be  remembered  money  was  of  greater  relative 
value.  In  a  letter  from  a  "  Constant  Reader "  to  The 
Times  in  October  1795,  the  vexed  subject  of  tips  is 
discussed — 

"  If  a  man  who  has  a  horse,  puts  up  at  an  inn,  besides 
the  usual  bill,  he  must  at  least  give  is.  to  the  waiter,  6d. 
to  the  chambermaid,  6d.  to  the  ostler,  and  6d.  to  the 
jack-boot,  making  together  2s.  6d.  At  breakfast  you 
must  give  at  least  6d.  between  the  waiter  and  Hostler. 
If  the  traveller  only    puts    up   to   have   a  refreshment, 


VISITS  AND  TRAVELLING  151 

besides  paying  for  his  horses  standing  he  must  give  3d. 
to  the  hostler,  at  dinner  6d.  to  the  waiter  and  3d.  to 
the  hostler ;  at  tea  6d.  between  them,  so  that  he  gives 
away  in  the  day  2s.  6d.,  which,  added  to  the  2s.  6d.  for 
the  night,  makes  5s.  per  day  on  an  average  to  servants." 

Jane  did  not  expect  to  be  able  to  return  to 
Steventon  until  about  the  middle  of  October,  but  it 
was  necessary  to  lay  plans  long  before  so  as  to  arrange 
if  possible  for  the  escort  of  one  of  her  brothers,  as  it 
was  not  thought  at  all  the  proper  thing  for  a  young  lady 
to  go  by  herself  on  a  journey,  and  considering  the 
changes  at  inn-yards  and  many  stoppages,  this  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at.  Just  at  this  time  Frank  Austen 
received  a  naval  appointment,  and  had  to  be  up  in  town 
the  next  day,  September  21,  so  Jane  seized  the  op- 
portunity to  go  with  him.  "  As  to  the  mode  of  our 
travelling  to  town,  I  want  to  go  in  a  stage  coach,  but 
Frank  will  not  let  me."  This  means  of  course  that  they 
would  have  to  travel  post,  a  much  more  expensive 
performance. 

The  whole  subject  of  travelling  is  one  of  the  things 
that  bring  more  vividly  before  us  than  any  other  the 
difference  of  the  then  and  the  now. 

In  1755  an  Act  was  passed  compelling  districts 
all  over  the  country  to  make  turnpike  roads  and  charge 
toll  accordingly ;  before  this  date  the  state  of  the  roads 
had  been  too  terrible  for  description,  and  even  after  it 
road-making  progressed  but  slowly,  for  it  was  not  until 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  that  Macadam's 
improvements  were  adopted. 

Up  to  1755  roads  had  been  made  certainly  after  a 
fashion,  and  many  Acts  had  been  passed  with  the  object 
of  improving  them,  but  these  had  not  had  much  effect. 
Even  the  great  Act  of  1755  seemed  to  be  of  little 
practical  efficacy,  for  between   1760  and  1764  inclusive, 


152  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

upwards  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  Acts  of  Parliament 
were  passed  in  order  to  effect  the  formation  of  new,  and 
the  repair  and  alteration  of  old,  highways  throughout 
the  country,  so  Parliament  certainly  cannot  be  accused 
of  regarding  the  matter  with  indifference.  Many  are 
the  complaints  of  travellers.  Arthur  Young  in  his  well- 
known  Tour  mentions  the  roads  frequently :  "  Much 
more  to  be  condemned  is  the  execrable  muddy  road 
from  Bury  to  Sudbury  in  Suffolk,  in  which  I  was  forced 
to  move  as  slow  as  in  any  unmended  lane  in  Wales. 
For  ponds  of  liquid  dirt  and  a  scattering  of  loose  flints 
just  sufficient  to  lame  every  horse  that  moves  near  them, 
with  the  addition  of  cutting  vile  grips  across  the  road, 
under  pretence  of  letting  water  off,  but  without  the 
effect,  altogether  render  at  least  twelve  of  these  sixteen 
miles  as  infamous  a  turnpike  as  ever  was  travelled. 
Their  method  of  mending  the  last  mentioned  road  I 
found  excessively  absurd,  for  in  parts  of  it  the  sides  are 
higher  than  the  middle,  and  the  gravel  they  bring  in  is 
nothing  more  but  a  yellow  loam  with  a  few  stones  in  it, 
through  which  the  wheels  of  a  light  chaise  cut  as  easily 
as  in  sand,  with  the  addition  of  such  floods  of  watery 
mud  as  renders  the  road,  on  the  whole,  inferior  to 
nothing  but  an  unmended  Welsh  lane.  From  Chepstow 
to  the  half  way  house  between  Newport  and  Cardiff 
they  continue  mere  rocky  lanes,  full  of  hugeous  stones 
as  big  as  one's  horse,  and  abominable  holes." 

Though  the  stones  as  "  big  as  one's  horse  "  must  be 
allowed  for  as  the  pardonable  exaggeration  of  a 
traveller's  tale,  it  is  true  that  the  method  of  road 
mending  previous  to  Macadam  was  nothing  more  than 
setting  down  enormous  stones  to  be  crushed  in  by 
passing  wheels,  but  as  they  were  not  set  close,  the  wheels 
went  bumping  into  the  mud  between,  and  the  force  of 
the  jolt  instead  of  setting  the  stones  pushed  them  out  of 


VISITS  AND  TRAVELLING  153 

position  ever  worse  and  worse.  "  W^here  they  are 
mending,  as  they  call  it,  you  travel  over  a  bed  of  loose 
stones  none  of  less  size  than  an  octavo  volume,  and 
where  not  mended  'tis  like  a  staircase." 

As  for  the  means  of  conveyance  over  these  vile 
highways,  before  the  making  of  turnpike-roads  waggons 
had  been  the  usual  method,  and  flying  coaches,  as  they 
were  at  first  called,  were  considered  a  great  improve- 
ment ;  however,  coach  fares  were  high,  and  even  after 
the  introduction  of  coaches  many  people  who  were  unable 
to  afford  them  still  travelled  by  the  slow-going  waggon. 

This  mode  of  proceeding  must  have  been  inex- 
pressibly wearisome ;  here  is  an  account  of  a  journey 
made  by  such  means  from  London  to  Greenwich — 

"  We  were  twenty-four  passengers  within  side  and 
nine  without.  It  was  my  lot  to  sit  in  the  middle  with 
a  very  lusty  woman  on  one  side,  and  a  very  thin  man  on 
the  other.  '  Open  the  window,'  said  the  former  and  she 
had  a  child  on  her  lap  whose  hands  were  all  besmeared 
with  gingerbread.  *  It  can't  be  opened,'  said  a  little 
prim  coxcomb,  '  or  I  shall  get  cold.'  '  But  I  say  it 
shall,  sir,'  said  a  butcher  who  sat  opposite  to  him,  and 
the  butcher  opened  it ;  but  as  he  stood,  or  rather  bent 
forward  to  do  this,  the  caravan  came  into  a  rut  and  the 
butcher's  head,  by  the  suddenness  of  the  jolt,  came  into 
contact  with  that  of  the  woman  who  sat  next  to  me,  and 
made  her  nose  bleed.  He  begged  her  pardon  and  she 
gave  him  a  slap  on  the  face  that  sounded  through  the 
whole  caravan.  Two  sailors  that  were  seated  near  the 
helm  of  this  machine,  ordered  the  driver  to  cast  anchor 
at  the  next  public  house.  He  did  so  and  the  woman 
next  to  me  called  for  a  pint  of  ale  which  she  offered  to 
me,  after  she  had  emptied  about  a  pint  of  it,  observing, 
*  that  as  how  she  loved  ale  mightily.'  I  could  not  drink, 
at  which  she  took  offence.  ...  A  violent  dispute  now 


154  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

arose  between  two  stout-looking  men,  the  one  a  re- 
cruiting sergeant,  the  other  a  gentleman's  coachman, 
about  the  Rights  of  Man.  .  .  .  Another  dispute  after- 
wards was  about  politics,  which  was  carried  on  with  such 
warmth  as  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  company  to  the 
head  of  the  caravan,  where  the  combatants  sat  wedged 
together  like  two  pounds  of  Epping  butter,  whilst  a 
child  incessantly  roared  at  the  opposite  side,  and  the 
mother  abused  the  two  politicians  for  frightening  her 
babe.  The  heat  was  now  so  great  that  all  the  windows 
were  opened,  and  with  the  fresh  air  entered  clouds  of 
dust,  for  the  body  of  the  machine  is  but  a  few  inches 
from  the  surface  of  the  road." 

If  one  can  imagine  this  kind  of  thing  continuing  for 
hour  after  hour,  while  one's  bones  ached  with  the  cramp, 
and  one  was  stupefied  with  the  noise  and  smell,  one 
gains  some  idea  of  the  delights  of  waggon  travelling. 

We  find  an  account  of  the  roads  actually  in  Hamp- 
shire, Jane  Austen's  own  county,  in  the  correspondence 
of  Lady  Newdigate  {The  Cheverels  of  Cheverel  Mano?-). 
In  giving  an  account  of  going  from  Arbury  (Warwick) 
to  Stanstead  near  Portsmouth  in  1795,  she  says:  "The 
sisters  were  decidedly  for  going  through  Reading  and 
Farnham,  but  Mr.  Cotton,  from  consultation  of  maps  and 
conversation  with  postillions,  believed  it  would  be  full  as 
good  and  pleasant  and  a  much  shorter  road  to  go  by 
Basingstoke  and  Alton.  In  the  first  of  these  places  we 
found  it  19  miles  instead  of  15,  and  were  informed 
that  instead  of  ten  miles  good  turnpike  to  Alton  there 
was  not  above  three  miles  made,  and  the  rest  so  cut 
as  to  be  impassable  for  such  a  carriage  as  mine ;  in 
short  that  we  had  twelve  miles  across  country  road  .  .  . 
the  consequence  was  that  we  had  eight  miles  bad  road 
out  of  16,  and  was  an  hour  in  the  dark.  But  the 
poneys  performed  wonders." 


VISITS  AND  TRAVELLING  155 

Lady  Newdigate  also  gives  the  cost  of  this  journey, 
which  is  interesting:  "We  paid  I4d.  per  mile  great 
part  of  the  way  for  the  chaisehorses,  and  6d.  all  the  way 
for  the  saddle  horse ;  the  whole,  baits  and  sleepings 
included,  comes  to  above  ;^24  to  this  place." 

On  the  way  to  Brighton,  two  years  later,  she  says, 
"  I  never  saw  this  road  so  rotted,  so  heavy,  or  so 
deep.  It  was  with  difficulty  my  poor  poneys  could 
drag  us." 

We  have  therefore  a  tolerable  notion  of  the  fatigues 
attendant  on  a  journey  in  those  days. 

Another  drawback  was,  that  if  one  wished  to  travel 
by  coach  instead  of  going  post,  one  could  not  always  be 
sure  of  a  place  unless  booked  beforehand.  This  kind  of 
thing  frequently  happened — 

"  I  was  called  up  early — to  be  ready  for  the  coach, 
but  judge  my  disappointment  and  chagrin,  when  on  my 
approach  I  found  it  chock-full.  I  petitioned,  reasoned, 
urged  and  entreated,  but  all  to  no  effect.  I  could  not 
make  any  impression  on  the  obdurate  souls,  who,  proud 
and  sulky,  kept  easy  and  firm  possession  of  their  seats, 
and  hardly  deigned  to  answer,  when  I  requested  per- 
mission to  squeeze  in.  I  was  hoisted  on  the  coach  box 
as  the  only  alternative ;  but  on  the  first  movement  of 
the  vehicle,  had  it  not  been  for  the  arm  of  the  coachman, 
I  should  have  been  instantly  under  the  wheels  in  the 
street.  I  was  chucked  into  a  basket  as  a  place  of  more 
safety,  though  not  of  ease  or  comfort,  where  I  suffered 
most  severely  from  the  jolting,  particularly  over  the 
stones ;  it  was  most  truly  dreadful  and  made  one 
suffer  almost  equal  to  sea  sickness."  (Tate  Wilkinson, 
Meinoi7's?) 

This  basket  was  actually  a  basket  slung  on  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  luggage,  though  it  was  also  used 
for  passengers,  and  sometimes  filled  with  people  in  spite 


156  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

of  its  discomfort,  because  seats  here  were  charged  at  a 
low  price. 

Richard  Thomson,  in  Tales  of  an  Antiquary ^  gives 
a  very  good  word-picture  of  a  stage  coach :  "  Stage 
coaches  were  constructed  principally  of  a  dull  black 
leather,  thickly  studded  by  way  of  ornament  with  broad 
black  head  nails  tracing  out  the  panels,  in  the  upper 
tier  of  which  were  four  oval  windows  with  heavy  red 
wooden  frames  or  leathern  curtains.  The  roofs  of  the 
coaches  in  most  cases  rose  in  a  swelling  curve.  Behind 
the  coach  was  the  immense  basket,  stretching  far  and 
wide  beyond  the  body,  to  which  it  was  attached  by  long 
iron  bars  or  supports  passing  beneath  it.  The  wheels 
of  these  old  carriages  were  large,  massive,  ill-formed  and 
usually  of  a  red  colour,  and  the  three  horses  that  were 
affixed  to  the  whole  machine  were  all  so  far  parted 
from  it  by  the  great  length  of  their  traces  that  it  was 
with  no  little  difficulty  that  the  poor  animals  dragged 
their  unwieldly  burden  along  the  road." 

The  accidents  attendant  on  coach  journeys  were 
many  and  various,  and  the  badness  of  the  roads  was  the 
principal  cause.  In  Under  England's  Flag^  the  auto- 
biography of  Captain  Charles  Boothby,  R.E.,  we  have 
this  account  of  what  happened  to  him  in  1805  when  he 
first  left  home — 

"  Down  to  Portsmouth  then  I  went  on  the  outside 
of  the  mail,  in  the  highest  health  and  the  ardent  spirits 
of  youth,  spirits  that  made,  I  suppose,  even  my  body 
buoyant  and  elastic,  for  the  Mail  overturned  in  the  night 
and  threw  me  on  the  road  without  giving  me  so  much 
as  a  scratch  or  a  bruise.  It  was  about  twenty  miles 
from  London  when  we  met  a  team  of  horses  standing 
in  a  slant  direction  on  the  road,  the  night  very  foggy 
with  misting  rain,  and  the  lamps  not  penetrating  further 
into   the   mist   than   the  rumps   of  the   wheelers.     The 


^%:Nfii/if  1 


> 


O 


r  Jj^"*] 


VISITS  AND  TRAVELLING  157 

coachman,  to  avoid  the  waggon,  turned  suddenly  out 
of  the  way  and  ran  up  the  bank.  Finding  the  coach 
staggering,  I  got  up,  with  my  face  to  the  horses,  hardly 
daring  to  suppose  it  possible  that  the  Mail  could  over- 
turn, when  the  unwieldly  monster  was  on  one  wheel, 
and  then  down  it  came  with  a  terminal  bang.  During 
my  descent  I  had  just  time  to  hope  that  I  might 
escape  with  the  fracture  of  one  or  two  legs,  and 
then  found  myself  on  my  two  shoulders,  very  pleased 
with  the  novelty  and  ease  of  the  journey.  I  got  up 
and  spied  the  monster  with  his  two  free  wheels  whirling 
with  great  velocity,  but  quite  compact  and  still  in 
the  body,  and  as  soon  as  I  had  shaken  my  feathers 
and  opened  my  senses  I  began  to  think  of  the  one 
female  and  three  males  in  the  inside,  whom  I  supposed 
to  be  either  dead  or  asleep.  I  ran  to  open  the  door, 
when  the  guard,  having  thought  of  the  same  thing,  did 
it  for  me,  and  we  then  took  the  folks  out  one  by 
one,  like  pickled  ghirkins  or  anything  else  preserved 
in  a  jar,  by  putting  our  hands  to  the  bottom ;  we 
found  that  the  inmates  were  only  stupefied,  though 
all  had  bruises  of  some  kind,  and  one  little  gentleman 
complained  that  he  was  nipped  in  the  loins  by  the 
mighty  pressure  of  his  neighbour,  who  had  sat  upon 
him  some  time  after  the  door  was  opened  to  recollect 
himself  or  to  give  thanks  for  his  escape." 

Coaches  did  not  as  a  rule  run  on  Sundays,  so 
passengers  whose  journeys  were  to  extend  over  several 
days  had  to  take  care  to  start  early  in  the  week  if 
they  did  not  wish  to  pay  expenses  at  an  inn  during 
the  Sabbath. 

This  rule  was,  however,  not  stringently  observed, 
as  M.  Grosley  found  when  he  landed  in  England 
on   his  tour  of  observation — 

'*  The    great    multitude    of    passengers    with    which 


IS8  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TLMES 

Dover  was  then  crowded,  formed  a  reason  for  dispensing 
with  a  law  of  the  police,  by  which  public  carriages 
are  in  England,  forbid  to  travel  on  Sundays,  I  there- 
fore set  out  on  a  Sunday  with  seven  more  passengers 
in  two  carriages  called  flying  machines.  These  vehicles, 
which  are  drawn  by  six  horses,  go  twenty-eight  leagues 
in  a  day  from  Dover  to  London  for  a  single  guinea. 
Servants  are  entitled  to  a  place  for  half  that  money, 
either  behind  the  coach  or  upon  the  coach  box, 
which  has  three  places.  A  vast  repository,  under 
this  seat,  which  is  very  lofty,  holds  the  passengers' 
luggage,  which  is  paid  for  separately.  The  coachmen, 
whom  we  changed  every  time  with  our  horses,  were 
lusty,  well  made  men,  dressed  in  good  cloth." 

Among  the  advantages  of  travelling  on  a  Sunday 
when  coaches  were  not  expected,  he  enumerates  that 
"  we  should  meet  none  of  those  gentry  who  are  called 
collectors  of  the  highway,  and  of  whom  there  is  a  great 
number  upon  the  road ;  in  fact  we  saw  none  of  that 
sort,  but  such  as  were  hanging  upon  gibbets  at  the  road 
side ;  there  they  dangle,  dressed  from  head  to  foot, 
and  with  wigs  upon  their  heads." 

The  Austen  women  do  not  seem  at  any  time  to 
have  travelled  by  coach,  but  always  post,  a  much  more 
comfortable  method,  ensuring  privacy,  though  it  also 
had  its  disadvantages,  as  when  one  arrived  at  an  inn 
requiring  change  of  horses  only  to  find  the  Marquess 
of  Carabbas  had  passed  on  before  with  a  whole  retinue 
of  attendants,  taking  every  horse  in  the  stable,  and  the 
second  comers  were  therefore  compelled  to  wait  until 
the  return  of  the  jaded  steeds,  and  to  use  them  again 
when  the  poor  beasts  had  only  had  half  the  rest  they 
deserved.  The  keeping  of  horses  was  a  necessary 
branch  of  the  business  of  every  inn-keeper  on  the 
high-road,   a   branch   which   is   now   seldom   called   for, 


> 

W 

O 
<; 

H 

<: 


VISITS  AND  TRAVELLING  159 

so  that  it  is  only  at  very  large  establishments,  or  those 
in  the  most  out-of-the-way  districts  where  trains  come 
not,  that  "  posting  in  all  its  branches "  forms  part  of 
the  landlord's  boast. 

Though  one  lady  could  not  very  well  go  alone  on 
a  journey,  for  two  ladies  to  travel  together  was  con- 
sidered quite  proper.  In  1798,  Jane  and  her  mother 
returning  from  Godmersham  managed  for  themselves 
very  well.  Jane  says,  "  You  have  already  heard  from 
Daniel,  I  conclude,  in  what  excellent  time  we  reached 
and  quitted  Sittingbourne  and  how  very  well  my  mother 
bore  her  journey  thither.  .  .  .  She  was  a  very  little 
fatigued  on  her  arrival  at  this  place,  has  been  quite 
refreshed  by  a  comfortable  dinner,  and  now  seems  quite 
stout.  It  wanted  five  minutes  of  twelve  when  we  left 
Sittingbourne,  from  whence  we  had  a  famous  pair  of 
horses,  which  took  us  to  Rochester  in  an  hour  and  a 
quarter;  the  postboy  seemed  determined  to  show  my 
mother  that  Kentish  drivers  were  not  always  tedious. 

"  Our  next  stage  was  not  quite  so  expeditiously 
performed ;  the  road  was  heavy  and  our  horses  very 
indifferent.  However  we  were  in  such  good  time,  and 
my  mother  bore  her  journey  so  well,  that  expedition 
was  of  little  importance  to  us ;  and  as  it  was,  we  were 
very  little  more  than  two  hours  and  a  half  coming 
hither,  and  it  was  scarcely  past  four  when  we  stopped 
at  the  inn.  My  mother  took  some  of  her  bitters  at 
Ospringe,  and  some  more  at  Rochester,  and  she  ate 
some  bread  several  times.  We  sat  down  to  dinner 
a  little  after  five,  and  had  some  beefsteak  and  a  boiled 
fowl,  but  no  oyster  sauce." 

Though  Jane  refused  to  avail  herself  of  the  very 
present  excitement  of  highwaymen  in  any  of  her  novels, 
she  might  legitimately  have  done  so,  for  these  perils  were 
by  no  means   imaginary ;  the   newspapers   of  the  latter 


i6o  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

part  of  the   eighteenth   century  are   full  of  accounts  of 
these  pests,  who  were  seldom  caught 

Mrs.  Lybbe  Powys  says — 

"  The  conversation  was  for  some  time  on  a  subject 
you'd  hardly  imagine — robbery.  Postchaises  had  been 
stopped  from  Hodges  to  Henley,  about  three  miles  ;  but 
though  the  nights  were  dark  we  had  flambeaux.  Miss 
Pratt  and  I  thought  ourselves  amazingly  lucky ;  we  were 
in  their  coach,  ours  next,  and  the  chaise  behind  that, 
robbed.  It  would  have  been  silly  to  have  lost  one's 
diamonds  so  totally  unexpected,  and  diamonds  it  seems 
they  came  after,  more  in  number  than  mine  indeed." 

The  Duke  of  York  and  one  of  his  brothers  were 
robbed  of  watches,  purses,  etc.,  when  they  were  returning 
late  at  night  in  a  hackney  coach  along  Hay  Hill. 

In  1786,  Horace  Walpole  mentions,  "The  mail  from 
France  was  robbed  last  night  in  Pall  Mall,  at  half  an 
hour  after  eight,  yes  !  in  the  great  thoroughfare  of  London, 
and  within  call  of  the  guard  at  the  Palace.  The  chaise 
had  stopped,  the  harness  was  cut,  and  the  portmanteau 
was  taken  out  of  the  chaise  itself." 

The  travellers  who  had  to  give  up  their  valuables 
were  numberless,  and  many  ladies  took  to  carrying 
secondary  purses  full  of  false  money,  which,  with 
hypocritical  tears  they  handed  out  on  compulsion.  There 
was  really  not  much  risk  in  the  business  of  a  highway- 
man, if  a  man  had  a  good  horse  and  good  nerve.  The 
poor  citizens  he  robbed  were  not  fighting  men,  and 
though  the  penalty  of  hanging  was  the  award  if  my 
well-mannered  and  gallant  gentleman  were  caught,  yet 
his  chances  of  escape  were  many.  The  wonder  is  not 
that  highwaymen  were  so  numerous,  but  that,  with  the 
cumbersome  methods  of  capturing  and  dealing  with  them, 
any  of  them  were  ever  caught  at  all. 


CHAPTER   IX 
CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 

THE  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  an  age  when 
merit  in  literature  was  an  Open  Sesame  to  the  very 
best  society  that  the  capital  could  supply.  An  author 
who  had  brought  out  a  work  a  little  above  the  average 
was  received  and  feted,  not  only  by  the  literary  set,  who 
rapidly  passed  her  or  him  on  from  one  to  another,  but 
by  the  persons  of  the  highest  social  rank  also.  London 
was  so  much  smaller  then,  that  there  was  not  room  for 
all  the  grades  and  sets  that  now  run  parallel  without  ever 
overlapping.  When  anyone  was  made  welcome  they 
were  free  of  all  the  best  society  at  once,  and  the  ease 
with  which  some  people  slipped  into  the  position  of 
social  lions  on  the  strength  of  very  small  performance  is 
little  short  of  wonderful.  When  Hannah  More  first 
visited  London,  in  1774,  she  was  plunged  at  once  into 
the  society  of  men  of  letters,  of  wit,  of  learning,  and  of 
rank.  Her  plays,  which  to  our  taste  are  intolerably  stiff 
and  dull,  were  accepted  by  Garrick,  she  became  his 
personal  friend,  and  he  introduced  her  to  everyone  whose 
acquaintance  was  worth  having.  The  Garricks'  house 
became  her  second  home,  and  she  met  Bishops  by  the 
half  dozen,  visited  the  Lord  Chamberlain  at  Apsley 
House,  and  was  on  familiar  terms  with  Sheridan,  Johnson, 
Walpole,  Reynolds,  and  many  another  whose  name  is 
still  a  household  word  in  England. 
II 


1 62  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

In  those  days  the  same  people  met  again  and  again 
at  each  other's  houses,  more  after  the  fashion  of  a  country 
town  than  of  that  of  London  at  present.  Indeed  they 
seem  to  have  spent  the  whole  day  and  most  of  the  night 
running  after,  each  other.  There  is  one  custom  which 
we  must  all  be  thankful  exists  no  longer,  the  intolerable 
fashion  of  morning  calls.  Calls  are  bad  enough  now  as 
custom  decrees,  but  we  are  at  least  free  from  the  terror 
of  people  dropping  in  upon  us  before  the  day's  work  is 
begun.  When  staying  in  Northumberland  Miss  Mitford 
remarks,  "  Morning  calls  are  here  made  so  early,  that  one 
morning  three  different  people  called  before  we  had  done 
breakfast."  Hannah  More  looked  on  a  morning  visit 
as  an  immorality,  yet  she  breakfasted  with  a  Bishop, 
afterwards  going  to  an  evening  party  with  another  on  the 
same  day !  She,  being  of  a  sensible  mind,  soon  grew 
tired  of  the  ceaseless  talk,  though  much  of  it  may  have 
been  good  stuff  and  worthy  of  preservation,  and  she 
rejoiced  when  she  could  get  a  day  to  herself,  and  deny 
herself  to  everyone. 

After  Garrick's  death,  when  she  came  to  stay  with  his 
brave  but  heart-broken  widow  she  lived  very  quietly. 
"  My  way  of  life  is  very  different  from  what  it  used  to  be. 
After  breakfast  I  go  to  my  own  apartment  for  several 
hours,  where  I  read,  write  and  work ;  very  seldom  letting 
anybody  in.  At  four  we  dine.  We  have  the  same 
elegant  table  as  usual,  but  I  generally  confine  myself  to 
one  single  dish  of  meat.  I  have  taken  to  drink  half  a 
glass  of  wine.  At  six  we  have  coffee ;  at  eight  tea,  when 
we  have  sometimes,  a  dowager  or  two  of  quality.  At 
ten  we  have  sallad  and  fruits." 

This  was  in  1779,  and  two  years  previously  her  play 
Percy  had  been  brought  out  with  extraordinary  success  ; 
she  says  of  it  herself,  "  far  beyond  my  expectation,"  and 
it  produced  more  excitement  than  any  tragedy  had  done 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS  163 

for  many  years.  The  author's  rights,  sale  of  copy,  etc., 
amounted  to  near  six  hundred  pounds,  and  "  as  my  friend 
Mr.  Garrick  has  been  so  good  as  to  lay  it  out  for  me  on 
the  best  security  and  at  five  per  cent.,  it  makes  a  decent 
little  addition  to  my  small  income.  Cadell  gave  ^150, 
a  very  handsome  price,  with  conditional  promises.  He 
confesses  that  it  had  had  a  very  great  sale  and  that  he 
shall  get  a  good  deal  of  money  by  it.  The  first  impres- 
sion is  near  four  thousand  and  the  second  is  almost 
sold." 

It  is  customary  to  think  of  Hannah  More  as  so  quiet 
and  Quakerish  that  the  idea  of  her  writing  plays  and 
living  a  gay  society  life  is  new  to  many  people,  but  the 
seriousness  and  retirement  came  later. 

Considering  how  easily  the  heights  of  celebrity  were 
stormed  at  that  time,  and  especially  by  a  woman,  it  is 
most  remarkable  that  Jane  received  no  encouragement, 
and  had  no  literary  society,  and  not  one  literary  corre- 
spondent in  the  whole  of  her  lifetime.  Of  course  her 
first  novel  was  not  published  until  1 8 1 1 ,  and  then 
anonymously,  with  the  simple  inscription  "  By  a  Lady  " 
on  the  title-page,  yet  it  sold  well  and  became  very 
popular,  and  though  no  effort  was  made  to  proclaim  her 
the  authoress  certainly  there  was  no  rigid  attempt  to 
hide  her  personality.  Before  the  publication  of  Emma 
her  identity  was  known,  for  she  was  requested  to  dedicate 
this  book  to  the  Prince  Regent,  as  will  be  related  in  due 
course.  And  this  was  the  only  recognition  of  any  public 
sort  she  received.  Many  of  her  contemporaries  were 
brought  up  in  a  sort  of  hotbed  of  intellect,  and  associated 
with  men  of  talent  and  distinction  from  their  cradles — 
what  a  wonderful  quickening  and  impetus  must  this 
have  brought  with  it !  Jane  had  none  of  these  ad- 
vantages, her  genius  was  her  own  entirely,  and  her 
material  of  the  slightest ;  she  had  no  contemporaries  of 


1 64  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

original  talent  with  which  to  exchange  ideas,  to  strike 
out  sparks  or  receive  suggestions.  She  did  not  mingle 
with  people  of  her  own  calibre  at  all.  Herein  Miss 
Burney  had  an  immense  advantage  over  her,  from  her 
babyhood  she  was  surrounded  by  men  and  women  of 
distinction.  Her  father,  himself  an  author  and  possessing 
musical  talent,  drew  to  his  house  all  sorts  of  persons. 
Macaulay  says,  "  It  would  be  tedious  to  recount  the 
names  of  all  the  men  of  letters  and  artists  whom  Fanny 
Burney  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  and  hearing. 
Hundreds  of  remarkable  persons  had  passed  in  review 
before  her,  English,  French,  German,  Italian,  lords  and 
fiddlers,  deans  of  cathedrals  and  managers  of  theatres, 
travellers  leading  about  newly  caught  savages,  and 
singing-women  escorted  by  deputy-husbands."  She  was 
feted,  caressed  and  brought  forward  until  she  accepted 
the  appointment  at  the  court  which  condemned  her  to 
a  weary  round  of  dull  duties,  and  must  have  made  her 
life  appear  like  a  draught  of  ditch-water  after  the 
heady  champagne  to  which  she  was  accustomed. 

But  the  London  of  1811,  when  we  have  the  first 
record  of  Jane's  visiting  it,  was  not  what  it  had  been 
thirty  years  before.  Johnson  was  dead,  Walpole  was 
dead,  Garrick  was  dead,  Reynolds  was  dead,  Sheridan 
living  but  sunk  in  debt  and  disease ;  of  the  brilliant 
band  that  Hannah  More  had  known  few  were  left. 
Doctor  Johnson  had  died  fourteen  years  previously,  when 
Jane  was  only  nine  years  old.  Miss  Burney  had  had 
not  only  his  friendship  but  his  help  in  the  revision  of 
her  works — perhaps  a  doubtful  privilege.  To  quote 
Lord  Macaulay  again :  "  When  she  wrote  her  early 
journals,  and  her  novel  of  Evelina^  her  style  was  not 
indeed  brilliant  or  energetic ;  but  it  was  easy,  clear,  and 
free  from  all  offensive  faults.  When  she  wrote  Cecilia 
she  aimed  higher.     She  had  then  lived  much  in  a  circle 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS  165 

of  which  Johnson  was  the  centre  ;  and  she  was  herself  one 
of  his  most  submissive  worshippers.  ...  In  an  evil  hour 
the  author  of  Evelina  took  the  Rambler  for  her  model. 
She  had  her  style.  It  was  a  tolerably  good  one  ;  she 
determined  to  throw  it  away  to  adopt  a  style  in  which 
she  could  attain  excellence  only  by  achieving  an  almost 
miraculous  victory  over  nature  and  over  habit.  In  Cecilia 
the  imitation  of  Johnson,  though  not  always  in  the  best 
taste,  is  sometimes  eminently  happy.  There  were  people 
who  whispered  that  Johnson  had  assisted  his  young 
friend  and  that  the  novel  owed  all  its  finest  passages  to 
his  hand.     This  was  merely  the  fabrication  of  envy." 

But  after  the  death  of  Johnson,  "  she  had  to  write 
in  Johnson's  manner  without  Johnson's  aid.  The 
consequence  was  that  in  Camilla  every  passage  which 
she  meant  to  be  fine  is  detestable ;  and  that  the  book 
has  been  saved  from  condemnation  only  by  the  admir- 
able spirit  and  force  of  those  scenes  in  which  she  was 
content  to  be  familiar." 

After  he  had  read  Camilla^  Walpole  says  of  Miss 
Burney :  **  Alas  !  She  had  reversed  experience  which 
I  have  long  thought  reverses  its  own  utility  by  coming 
at  the  wrong  end  of  our  life  when  we  do  not  want  it. 
This  author  knew  the  world  and  penetrated  characters 
before  she  had  stepped  over  the  threshold ;  now  she  has 
seen  so  much  of  it  she  has  little  or  no  insight  at  all." 

It  was  therefore,  perhaps,  lucky  for  Jane  Austen 
that  she  was  not  so  overshadowed  by  the  direct 
personality  of  a  mighty  man  as  to  lose  her  clear,  bright 
English  style.  Her  admiration  for  Miss  Burney's  work 
was  decided  and  clearly  expressed,  and  she  was  among 
the  first  subscribers  to  Camilla  in  1796. 

Though  Jane  never  came  into  contact  with  the  men 
and  women  who  made  literature  in  her  day,  she  took  a 
keen  interest  in  their  works,  and  was  a  great  novel  reader. 


1 66  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

She  says  in  one  place,  **  As  an  inducement  to  subscribe 
(to  her  library)  Mrs.  Martin  tells  me  that  her  collection 
is  not  to  consist  only  of  novels  but  of  every  kind  of 
literature.  She  might  have  spared  this  pretension  to  our 
family,  who  are  great  novel  readers  and  not  ashamed  of 
being  so." 

There  are  frequent  references  to  novels  in  her 
letters :  "  We  have  got  Fitz  -  Albini^  my  father  has 
bought  it  against  my  private  wishes,  for  it  does  not  quite 
satisfy  my  feelings  that  we  should  purchase  the  only  one 
of  Egerton's  works  of  which  his  family  are  ashamed." 

In  another  place :  "  To  set  against  your  new  novel, 
of  which  nobody  ever  heard  before,  and  perhaps  never 
may  again,  we  have  got  Ida  of  Athens  by  Miss  Owenson, 
which  must  be  very  clever  because  it  was  written  the 
authoress  says  in  three  months.  We  have  only  read  the 
preface  yet,  but  her  Irish  girl  does  not  make  me  expect 
much.  If  the  warmth  of  her  language  could  affect  the 
body  it  might  be  worth  reading  this  weather."     [January.] 

There  were  many  writers  thought  highly  of  at  the 
time  of  their  writing,  who  have  yet  dropped  into  oblivion 
to  all  but  the  student ;  among  these  is  Jane  Porter,  born 
a  year  later  than  Jane  Austen,  who  published  her  first 
romance,  Thaddeus  of  Wai^saw^  in  1803,  this  was  a 
great  success,  and  immediately  ran  through  several 
editions;  it  was  followed  in  18 10  by  her  chef  d'oeuvre 
The  Scottish  Chiefs.  In  1 809,  when  it  had  just  come 
out,  and  was  anonymous,  Hannah  More's  Coelebs  in  Search 
of  a  Wife  came  into  Cassandra's  hands. 

Jane  writes  of  it :  "  You  have  by  no  means  raised  my 
curiosity  after  Caleb.  My  disinclination  for  it  before 
was  affected  but  now  it  is  real.  I  do  not  like  the 
evangelicals.  Of  course  I  shall  be  delighted  when  I 
read  it  like  other  people,  but  till  I  do,  I  dislike  it." 
And  in  her  next  letter  she  replies  to  her  sister,  "  I   am 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS  167 

not  at  all  ashamed  about  the  name  of  the  novel,  having 
been  guilty  of  no  insult  towards  your  handwriting ;  the 
diphthong  I  always  saw,  but  knowing  how  fond  you 
were  of  adding  a  vowel  wherever  you  could,  I  attributed 
it  to  that  alone,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  does 
the  book  no  service ;  the  only  merit  it  could  have  was 
in  the  name  of  Caleb,  which  has  an  honest  unpretending 
sound,  but  in  Coelebs  there  is  pedantry  and  affectation. 
Is  it  written  only  to  classical  scholars  ?  " 

Coelebs  itself  it  must  be  admitted  is  dull,  unquali- 
fiedly dull.  Jane  Austen's  own  books  are  not  novels  of 
plot,  but  they  radiate  plot  in  comparison.  In  Coelebs  a 
procession  of  persons  stalks  solemnly  through  the  pages  ; 
they  never  reveal  themselves  by  action,  but  are  described 
as  by  a  Greek  chorus  by  the  other  characters  in  conver- 
sation or  by  the  author,  while  long  dry  disquisitions  on 
religion  fill  half,  or  more  than  half,  of  the  book,  and 
Coelebs  himself  is  a  prig  of  the  first  water.  Yet 
there  are  certain  little  touches  which  indicate  a  know- 
ledge of  human  nature,  such  as  that  of  the  man  who 
has  married  a  beauty,  "  Who  had  no  one  recommenda- 
tion but  beauty.  To  be  admired  by  her  whom  all  his 
acquaintance  admired  gratified  his  amour-propre." 

A  book  called  Self  Control^  which  appeared  in  i  8 1  o, 
by  Mary  Brunton,  the  wife  of  a  Scotch  minister,  had  a 
fair  measure  of  success,  and  was  reprinted  as  lately  as 
1852.  Jane  speaks  very  slightingly  of  it:  "I  am 
looking  over  Self  Control  again,  and  my  opinion  is 
confirmed  of  its  being  an  excellently  meant,  elegantly 
written  work,  without  anything  of  nature  or  probability 
in  it.  I  declare  I  do  not  know  whether  Laura's  passage 
down  the  American  river  is  not  the  most  natural 
possible  every-day  thing  she  ever  does."  Miss  Mitford 
in  regard  to  this  book  quotes  the  opinions  of  two  men, 
one  of  whom  said  it  ought  to  be  burnt  by  the  common 


1 68  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

hangman  and  the  other  that  it  ought  to  be  written  in 
letters  of  gold,  which  shows  that  public  opinion  was  as 
various  in  those  days  as  it  is  in  these.  In  1807,  Jane 
mentions  Clarentine^  a  novel  of  Sarah  Burney's,  who 
was  a  younger  sister  of  the  famous  Miss  Burney ;  though 
the  same  author  brought  out  another  novel  later,  it  was 
evidently  only  because  she  followed  in  her  sister's  wake, 
and  not  from  any  inherent  ability.  Jane  says,  "  We 
are  reading  Clarentine  and  are  surprised  to  find  how 
foolish  it  is.  I  remember  liking  it  much  less  on  a 
second  reading  than  at  the  first,  and  it  does  not  bear  a 
third  at  all.  It  is  full  of  unnatural  conduct  and  forced 
difficulties,  without  striking  merit  of  any  kind." 

But  these  impressions  of  long-forgotten  books  are 
hardly  worth  recording,  except  as  specimens  of  the 
quantities  of  worthless  novels  to  be  had  at  the  libraries 
then. 

Samuel  Rogers  says,  "  Lane  made  a  large  fortune  by 
the  immense  quantity  of  trashy  novels  which  he  sent 
forth  from  the  Minerva  press.  I  perfectly  well  remember 
the  splendid  carriage  in  which  he  used  to  ride,  and  his 
footmen  with  their  cockades  and  gold-headed  canes, 
Now-a-days  as  soon  as  a  novel  has  had  its  run,  and 
is  beginning  to  be  forgotten,  out  comes  an  edition  of 
it  as  a  standard  novel." 

In  Miss  Mitford's  Life  is  given  a  list  of  the  books 
which  she  had  from  the  circulating  library  in  a  month, 
and  which  she  presumably  read,  when  she  was  a  girl 
just  back  from  school.  It  is  here  quoted  as,  with  one 
or  two  exceptions,  the  titles  tell  the  style  of  work  in 
vogue. 

"  St.  Margaret's  Cave  ;  St.  Claire  of  the  Isles  ;  Scourge 
of  Conscience ;  Emma  Corbett ;  Poetical  Miscellany ; 
Vincenza ;  A  Sailor's  Friendship  and  a  Sailor's  Love ; 
The  Castles  of  Athlin  and  Dumbayn ;  Polycratia  ;  Travels 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS  169 

in  Africa  ;  Novice  of  St.  Dominick  ;  Clarentina  ;  Leonora  ; 
Count  de  Valmont ;  Letters  of  a  Hindu  Rajah ;  Fourth 
Vol.  of  Canterbury  Tales ;  The  Citizen's  Quarter ; 
Amazement ;  Midnight  Weddings ;  Robert  and  Adela  ; 
The  Three  Spaniards ;  De  Clifford." 

In  his  History  of  Eighteenth  Century  Literature 
Edmund  Gosse  says :  "  The  flourishing  period  of  the 
eighteenth  century  novel  lasted  exactly  twenty-five 
years,  during  which  time  we  have  to  record  the  publica- 
tion of  no  less  than  fifteen  eminent  works  of  fiction. 
The  fifteen  are  naturally  divided  into  three  groups. 
The  first  contains  Pamela^  Joseph  Andrews^  David 
Simple  (Sarah  Fielding)  and  Jonathan  Wild.  In  these 
books  the  art  is  still  somewhat  crude,  and  the  science 
of  fiction  incompletely  understood.  After  a  silence 
of  five  years  we  reach  the  second  and  greatest  section 
of  this  central  period,  during  which  there  appeared  in 
quick  succession,  Clarissa^  Roderick  Random^  Tom  Jones ^ 
Peregrine  Pickle,  Amelia  and  Sir  Charles  Gf'andison  .  .  . 
there  followed  another  silence  of  five  years,  and  then 
were  issued  each  on  the  heels  of  the  other,  Tristram 
Shandy^  Rasselas,  Chrysal,  The  Castle  of  Otranto  and 
The  Vicar  of  Wakefield — five  years  later  still — Humphrey 
Clinker,  and  then,  with  one  or  two  such  exceptions  as 
Evelina  and  Caleb  Williams,  no  great  novel  appeared 
again  in  England  for  forty  years  until  in  1 8 1 1  the 
new  school  of  fiction  was  inaugurated  by  Serise  and 
Sensibilityr 

Though  we  may  not  agree  entirely  with  Mr.  Gosse's 
classification,  this  paragraph  is  suggestive. 

As  we  have  seen  in  her  brother's  record,  Jane's 
favourites  in  prose  and  poetry  respectively  were  Johnson 
and  Cowper,  These  two  are  mentioned  in  one  sentence 
of  hers :  "  We  have  got  Bos  well's  Tour  to  the  Hebrides, 
and    are    to    have    his   Life  of  Johnson ;    and    as    some 


I70  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

money  will  yet   remain  in  Burdon's  hands,  it  is  to  be 
laid  out  in  the  purchase  of  Cowper's  works." 

She  warmly  admired  Cowper,  which  is  hardly 
wonderful,  for,  with  some  manifest  differences,  Cowper 
was  trying  to  do  in  poetry  what  she  did  in  prose.  He 
was  utterly  lacking,  of  course,  in  her  light  vivacity  of 
touch  and  sense  of  humour,  but  he  did  genuinely  try 
to  describe  what  he  saw,  not  what  he  merely  knew  by 
hearing.  The  green  fields  and  full  rivers  of  the  Olney 
country  are  depicted  with  fidelity  to  detail  and  clearness 
of  line.  Cowper  was  born  in  173  i,  but  his  first  volume 
of  verse  was  not  published  until  1782,  and  it  was  not 
until  The  Task  appeared  a  year  or  two  later,  with  John 
Gilpin  in  the  same  volume,  that  he  really  came  to  his  own. 

In  1798,  Jane  writes:  "My  father  reads  Cowper 
to  us  in  the  morning  to  which  I  listen  when  I  can." 
This  implies  no  disparagement  of  the  poet,  but  merely 
that  her  numerous  household  duties  did  not  always  allow 
her  time  to  listen.  In  Morland's  picture,  "  Domestic 
Happiness,"  we  have  a  scene  which  helps  us  to  realise 
the  family  group  at  these  readings.  The  mother  and 
daughter  in  their  caps,  with  elbow-sleeves  and  white 
kerchiefs,  are  dressed  as  Jane  and  her  mother  must 
have  been,  and  the  plain  simplicity  of  the  part  of  the 
room  shown  is  quite  in  accordance  with  the  rectory 
environment. 

Another  of  Jane's  favourite  poets  was  Crabbe. 
Crabbe  and  Cowper  are  both  rather  heavy  reading, 
and  of  both  it  may  be  said  that  their  poetry  is  not 
poetical,  but  they  are  honestly  seeking  after  truth  and 
thus  they  attracted  Jane  Austen.  They  were  amongst 
the  earliest  of  the  natural  school  which  used  the  method 
of  realism.  Crabbe  had  a  bitter  struggle  to  obtain  a 
hearing,  but  his  struggle  was  over  before  1796.  Burke 
had  taken  him   up,  and   in   those  days  much  depended 


DOMESTIC   HAPPINESS 


CONTEMPORARY  AVRITERS  171 

on  a  patron.  In  1781  he  had  published  The  Libi-ary^ 
two  years  after  The  Village^  and  two  years  later  again 
came  The  Newspaper^  and  then  he  did  not  bring  out 
anything  more  until  1 807. 

It  is,  of  course,  very  difficult  to  give  any  picture  of 
contemporary  literature  in  Jane  Austen's  time  without 
degenerating  into  mere  strings  of  names.  The  fact  that 
she  herself  came  in  contact  with  no  one  of  the  first  rank 
in  literature  prevents  any  of  the  characters  from  being 
woven  into  her  life.  The  books  she  mentions  as  having 
read  are  a  mere  drop  in  the  ocean  compared  with  the 
books  which  came  out  in  her  time,  and  which  she  prob- 
ably, in  some  cases  almost  certainly,  read.  It  was  a 
brilliant  age  as  regards  writing.  Perhaps  the  best  way 
to  give  some  general  idea  of  those  writers  not  already 
mentioned  will  be  to  divide  the  time  into  three  sections ; 
and,  without  any  attempt  at  being  exhaustive,  to  mention 
generally  the  leading  names  among  the  writers  who 
lived  on  into  her  epoch,  but  whose  best  work  had  been 
published  before  her  time ;  those  who  actually  were 
contemporary  in  the  sense  that  their  books,  by  which 
their  names  are  known,  were  published  in  her  lifetime ; 
and  those  whose  names  had  not  begun  to  be  known 
when  she  died,  though  the  owners  were  born  in  her 
epoch. 

First,  then,  those  whose  work  was  done ;  foremost 
among  these  was  Johnson,  who  has  already  been  men- 
tioned. 

Walpole  was  considerably  past  middle-age  at  her 
birth,  and  died  in  1797  ;  Wesley's  collected  Works  came 
out  in  177 1,  and  he  died  in  1791  ;  Adam  Smith  preceded 
him  by  a  year. 

The  seventies  in  the  eighteenth  century  produced 
numerous  brilliant  men  and  women  whose  names  still 
live ;  besides  Jane  Austen  herself,  we  have  Sir  Walter 


172  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Scott,  Hazlitt,  Sydney  Smith,  Lamb,  Sir  Humphry  Davy, 
Coleridge,  Southey,  Wordsworth,  Hogg,  Thomas  Moore, 
and  Thomas  Campbell,  who  were  all  born  in  this  decade, 
though,  as  the  development  of  a  writer  differs  enormously 
in  growth,  some  of  them  were  much  later  in  making 
their  appearance  in  print  than  others.  Among  the 
better  known  names  of  women  novelists  not  already 
mentioned  we  have  Miss  Edgeworth,  Jane  Austen's 
senior  by  eight  years,  whose  first  novel.  Castle  Rackrent^ 
was  published  anonymously  in  1800.  That  Jane  knew 
and  admired  her  work  is  obvious  from  the  fact  that  she 
sent  her  a  copy  of  Emma  for  a  present  on  its  publication. 
Mrs.  Inchbald,  born  in  1753,  was  at  first  known  as  an 
actress,  her  Simple  Story ^  by  which  she  is  best  remembered, 
was  published  in  1791.  Mrs.  Radcliffe,  whose  romances 
induced  Jane  Austen  to  write  Northanger  Abbey  in 
mockery,  was  very  busy  between  1789  and  1797,  during 
which  time  she  published  five  novels,  including  her 
famous  Mysteries  of  Udolpho  in  1794.  Joanna  Baillie 
published  a  volume  of  verse  in  1790,  and  her  first  volume 
of  plays  in  1798;  though  almost  forgotten  now,  she 
was  taken  very  seriously  in  her  time,  and  her  play  De 
Montfori  vfdiS  produced  at  Drury  Lane  in  1800  by  Mrs. 
Siddons  and  Kemble.  Anna  Seward,  who  was  born  in 
1747,  lived  to  1 809  ;  she,  like  Hannah  More,  was  far 
more  praised  and  valued  than  any  of  her  poor  little 
productions  warranted. 

Sheridan  brought  out  his  famous  play  The  Rivals  in 
the  year  of  Jane's  birth  ;  it  was  at  first  a  dead  failure, 
but,  nothing  daunted,  he  cut  it  about  and  altered  it,  and 
when  reproduced  two  years  subsequently  it  attained 
success  at  once.  The  same  year  saw  The  School  for 
Scandal,  and  the  following  one  The  Critic.  In  this  year 
also  the  first  volume  of  Gibbon's  great  History  appeared. 

Burns,  who  had  written  some  of  his  best  work  while 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS  173 

Jane  was  still  a  child,  died  in    1796,  and  the  brilliant 
Burke  the  succeeding  year. 

Just  to  give  some  general  idea  of  the  wonderful 
fruitfulness  of  this  epoch  it  may  also  be  mentioned 
that  Samuel  Rogers'  Pleasures  of  Memory  came  out  in 
1792;  Lyrical  Ballads,  including  Coleridge's  Ancient 
Mariner  and  some  of  Wordsworth's  poems,  in  1798; 
Campbell's  Pleasures  of  Hope  in  1799. 

Byron  was  thirteen  years  younger  than  Jane,  yet 
his  precocity  was  so  great  that  his  first  book,  Hours  of 
Idleness,  was  produced  in  1807.  The  first  two  cantos 
of  Childe  Harold  followed  in  1 8 1 2,  but  the  whole  poem 
was  not  completed  until  Jane  was  in  her  grave ;  the 
Giaour,  Corsair,  etc.,  she  must  have  known  as  new  books 
a  year  or  two  before  her  death. 

Southey's  Tlialaba  came  out  in  the  first  year  of  the 
new  century,  and  Thomas  Moore  published  the  first  of 
his  Irish  Melodies  in  1807. 

Scott's  literary  career  began  with  the  publication  of 
a  translation  of  Burger's  "  Lenore  "  in  1799,  between  that 
date  and  1 8 1 4  his  poems  appeared  at  intervals,  and  in 
1 8 14  his  first  great  novel  Waverley.  Though  it  was 
anonymous,  Jane  seems  to  have  discovered  the  secret  of 
the  authorship,  for  she  writes :  "  Walter  Scott  has  no 
business  to  write  novels,  especially  good  ones.  It  is  not 
fair.  He  has  fame  and  profit  enough  as  a  poet  and 
ought  not  to  be  taking  the  bread  out  of  other  people's 
mouths.  I  do  not  mean  to  like  Waverley  if  I  can  help 
it,  but  I  fear  I  must."  But  she  was  not  the  only  one  to 
make  such  a  conjecture,  for  Miss  Mitford  having  read 
Waverley  also  imputes  it  unhesitatingly  to  him,  she  says, 
"  If  there  be  any  belief  in  internal  evidence  it  must  be 
his."  Judging  by  these  two  specimens,  the  secret  of 
Scott's  anonymity  was  not  the  great  mystery  it  is 
generally  imagined  to  have  been. 


174  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

The  third  period,  that  of  the  great  men  who  were 
actually  contemporary  with  Jane  Austen,  though  she  was 
unconscious  of  their  existence,  as  they  did  not  win  their 
laurels  until  after  her  death,  is  of  course  much  less 
interesting,  and  may  be  quickly  dismissed,  such  names 
as  those  of  Lingard  and  Hallam  among  historians ; 
Mill,  Hazlitt,  and  De  Quincey  belong  by  right  of  birth 
to  an  earlier  epoch,  though  their  works  place  them  in 
this. 

Miss  Ferrier  and  Miss  Mitford,  too,  were  not  much 
younger  than  Jane  Austen,  but  neither  had  brought  out 
anything  noticeable  before  her  death.  Miss  Ferrier's 
first  novel,  MarriagBy  made  its  appearance  in  1 8 1 8  ;  and 
though  Miss  Mitford  had  written  poems,  her  Our 
Village  first  appeared  in  the  Lady's  Magazine  only  in 
1 8 19.  As  we  have  seen,  Miss  Mitford  was  a  scholar 
at  the  same  school  as  Jane  Austen,  though  many 
years  later.  She  was  also  a  native  of  Jane's  county, 
Hants. 

In  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  were 
born  among  poets :  Shelley,  Keats,  Hood,  Keble,  and 
Mrs.  Hemans ;  among  historians,  Grote,  Alison,  Napier, 
Carlyle,  and  Thirlwall ;  among  men  of  science,  Faraday 
and  Lyell ;  and  among  novelists,  Marryat. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  we  have 
a  string  of  great  names  ;  a  trio  of  poets :  Tennyson, 
Longfellow,  and  Browning;  men  of  science  such  as 
Darwin ;  historians  such  as  Macaulay ;  novelists  in 
numbers,  such  as  Dickens,  Thackeray,  Charles  Reade, 
Harrison  Ainsworth,  Bulwer  Lytton,  and  Trollope ; 
statesmen  such  as  Gladstone  and  Disraeli. 

Perhaps  no  forty  years  that  could  have  been  chosen 
at  any  period  of  English  history  would  have  covered 
such  a  variety  of  talent,  and  that  of  such  a  high  order,  as 
was  given  to  the  world  during  Jane  Austen's  brief  life. 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS  175 

And  if  she  did  not  know  personally  the  men  whose 
names  have  lived  with  her  own,  at  all  events  she  drew 
from  their  works  inspiration  and  knowledge,  and  she 
herself  was  not  by  any  means  the  least  among  so 
mighty  a  company. 


CHAPTER   X 
A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS 

WHEN  Jane  returned  home  in  October,  after  her 
pleasant  visit  to  Godmersham,  she  began  her 
first  real  novel.  She  was  then  nearly  twenty-one,  and 
the  girlish  scribblings  in  which  she  had  delighted  began 
to  be  shaped  into  something  more  coherent.  This  very 
visit,  with  all  its  bright  intercourse,  all  its  pleasant 
variety, — for  she  had  been  thrown  among  a  set  of  county 
people  of  better  social  standing  than  those  she  usually 
saw, — may  have  quickened  the  germ,  and  been  the  cause 
of  her  development.  The  book  was  at  first  called  First 
Impressions^  and  under  this  title  she  herself  frequently 
refers  to  it ;  but  some  time  later  she  re-christened  it  by 
the  name  under  which  it  was  published. 

The   idea   that   the  name  Pride  and  Prejudice  was 

/suggested  by  some  sentences  at  the  end  of  Cecilia  has  been 

/  mooted,  and  though  arguments  against  this  supposition 

/      have  been  found,  it  appears  extremely  probable.      For  in 

V        Cecilia  it  is  declared,  "  The  whole  of  this  unfortunate  affair 

^--^as   been   the  result  of  PRIDE  AND  PREJUDICE," 

which  last  words  are  repeated  twice  on  the  same  page, 

each  time   in    large   type  so   that  they  catch   the    eye. 

Cecilia  itself  might  well  have  borne  this  title  in  reference 

to  the  pride  and  prejudice  of  the  Delvile  family.     The 

book  was  published  in    1786,  and  we  know  that  Jane 

had  a  great  admiration  for  Miss  Burney's  work.      In  re- 

176 


A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS  177 

reading  it  some  time  subsequently  it  may  very  easily  have 
struck  her  that  "  Pride  and  Prejudice  "  was  an  improve- 
ment on  her  own  more  common-place  title,  and  there 
was  nothing  to  prevent  her  adopting  it.  The  repetition 
of  two  striking  qualities  and  the  alliteration  may  further 
have  given  rise  to  Sense  and  Sensibility^  which  also 
replaced  an  earlier  title  of  Elinor  and  Mariarme, 

Pride  and  Prejudice  was  apparently  written  solely 
to  gratify  the  instincts  of  the  writer,  without  any  thought 
of  publication.  But  after  it  was  completed,  a  year  later, 
November  1797,  Jane's  father  wrote  for  her  to  the  well- 
known  publisher  Cadell  as  follows  : — 

"  Sir, — I  have  in  my  possession  a  manuscript  novel 
comprising  3  vols,  about  the  length  of  Miss  Burney's 
Evelina.  As  I  am  well  aware  of  what  consequence  it 
is  that  a  work  of  this  sort  should  make  its  first  appear- 
ance under  a  respectable  name,  I  apply  to  you.  I  shall 
be  much  obliged  therefore  if  you  will  inform  me  whether 
you  choose  to  be  concerned  in  it,  what  will  be  the 
expense  of  publishing  it  at  the  author's  risk,  and  what 
you  will  venture  to  advance  for  the  property  of  it, 
if  on  perusal  it  is  approved  of.  Should  you  give  any 
encouragement  I  will  send  you  the  work." 

This  proposal,  modest  as  it  is,  was  rejected  by  return 
of  post.  One  would  have  thought  that  the  success  of 
Miss  Burney's  books  would  have  made  a  leading 
publisher  anxious  to  look  at  a  work  on  similar  lines, 
but  no — Pride  and  Prejudice  was  destined  not  to  be 
published  until  181  3,  sixteen  years  later! 

As  we   have  said,  it    is    unanimously  accorded    the 

premier    place    amongst    Jane    Austen's    novels,    partly 

because  it  is  full  of  that  brilliancy  and  sparkle  which  are 

its  author's  greatest  characteristics,  and   partly  because 

12 


178  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

of  the  inimitable  character  of  Elizabeth  Bennet,  whose 
combined  archness  and  intelligence  captivate  everyone. 
Elizabeth  is  the  embodiment  of  the  heroine  so  many- 
authors  have  tried  to  draw.  Witty  without  being  pert, 
having  a  reasonable  conceit  of  herself  without  vanity, 
and  a  natural  gaiety  of  heart  that  makes  her  altogether 
lovable.  Whether  she  is  repelling  the  patronage  of 
Lady  Catherine  de  Bourgh,  or  chaffing  the  sombre 
Darcy,  she  is  equally  delightful.  Her  first  scene  with 
Lady  Catherine  embodies  much  character — 

"  '  Are  any  of  your  younger  sisters  out,  Miss  Bennet  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,  Ma'am,  all.' 

"'All!  What,  all  five  out  at  once?  Very  odd! 
And  you  only  the  second.  The  younger  ones  out  before 
the  elder  are  married !  Your  younger  sisters  must  be 
very  young  ? ' 

"  *  Yes,  the  youngest  is  not  sixteen.  Perhaps  she  is 
full  young  to  be  much  in  company.  But  really,  Ma'am, 
I  think  it  would  be  very  hard  upon  younger  sisters  that 
they  should  not  have  their  share  of  society  and  amuse- 
ment, because  the  elder  may  not  have  the  means  or 
inclination  to  marry  early.  The  last  born  has  as  good 
a  right  to  the  pleasures  of  youth  as  the  first.  And  to 
be  kept  back  on  such  a  motive !  I  think  it  would  not 
be  very  likely  to  promote  sisterly  affection  or  delicacy 
of  mind.' 

"  *  Upon  my  word,'  said  her  Ladyship,  *  you  give  your 
opinion  very  decidedly  for  so  young  a  person.  Pray 
what  is  your  age  ?  ' 

" '  With  three  younger  sisters  grown  up,'  replied 
Elizabeth,  smiling,  *  your  Ladyship  can  hardly  expect 
me  to  own  it.'  " 

And  again,  when  Lady  Catherine  comes  to  ask  if 
the  report  of  her  nephew's  engagement  to  Elizabeth 
is  true. 


A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS  179 

" '  If  you  believed  it  impossible  to  be  true,'  said 
Elizabeth,  colouring  with  astonishment  and  disdain,  *  I 
wonder  you  took  the  trouble  of  coming  so  far.  What 
could  your  Ladyship  propose  by  it  ? ' 

"  *  At  once  to  insist  on  having  such  a  report  univers- 
ally contradicted.' 

"  *  Your  coming  to  Langbourn  to  see  me  and  my 
family,'  said  Elizabeth  coolly,  '  will  be  rather  a  confirma- 
tion of  it ;  if,  indeed,  such  a  report  is  in  existence.' 

"*If!  Do  you  then  pretend  to  be  ignorant  of  it? 
Has  it  not  been  industriously  circulated  by  yourselves  ? 
Do  you  not  know  that  such  a  report  is  spread  abroad  ? ' 

"  *  I  never  heard  that  it  was.' 

"  '  And  can  you  likewise  declare  there  is  no  founda- 
tion for  it  ? ' 

" '  I  do  not  pretend  to  possess  equal  frankness  with 
your  Ladyship.  You  may  ask  questions  which  I  shall 
not  choose  to  answer.' 

"  *  This  is  not  to  be  borne.  Miss  Bennet,  I  insist  on 
being  satisfied.  Has  he,  has  my  nephew,  made  you  an 
offer  of  marriage  ?  ' 

"  *  Your  Ladyship  has  declared  it  to  be  impossible.'  " 

Her  verbal  encounters  with  Darcy  are  equally  char- 
acteristic. 

"  Elizabeth  turned  away  to  hide  a  smile. 

"  *  Your  examination  of  Mr.  Darcy  is  over,  I  pre- 
sume ?  '  said  Miss  Bingley,  *  and  pray  what  is  the  result  ? ' 

" '  I  am  perefctly  convinced  by  it  that  Mr.  Darcy  has 
no  defect.      He  owns  it  himself  without  disguise.' 

"'  No/  said  Darcy,  *  I  have  made  no  such  pretension. 
I  have  faults  enough,  but  they  are  not,  I  hope,  of  under- 
standing. My  temper  I  dare  not  vouch  for.  It  is,  I 
believe,  too  little  yielding ;  certainly  too  little  for  the 
convenience  of  the  world.  I  cannot  forget  the  follies  and 
vices  of  others  so  soon  as   I   ought,  nor  their    offences 


i8o  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

against  myself.  My  feelings  are  not  puffed  about 
with  every  attempt  to  move  them.  My  temper  would 
perhaps  be  called  resentful.  My  good  opinion  once  lost 
is  lost  for  ever.' 

*'  *  That  is  a  failing  indeed,'  cried  Elizabeth.  *  Im- 
placable resentment  is  a  shade  in  a  character.  But  you 
have  chosen  your  fault  well.  I  really  cannot  laugh  at 
it.     You  are  safe  from  me.' 

"  *  There  is,  I  believe,  in  every  disposition  a  tendency 
to  some  particular  evil,  a  natural  defect,  which  not  even 
the  best  education  can  overcome.' 

"  *  And  your  defect  is  a  propensity  to  hate  every- 
body.' 

"  *  And  yours,'  he  replied  with  a  smile,  *■  is  wilfully  to 
misunderstand  them.' " 

Darcy,  by  the  way,  is  one  of  the  least  attractive  of 
the  principal  men  characters.  It  is  inconceivable  that 
any  man  with  the  remotest  pretension  to  gentlemanly 
feeling  should  say,  even  to  himself,  much  less  aloud  in 
a  ball-room,  on  having  his  attention  called  to  a  young 
girl  sitting  out :  "  *  Which  do  you  mean  ? '  and,  turning 
round,  he  looked  for  a  moment  at  Elizabeth,  till,  catch- 
ing her  eye,  he  withdrew  his  own,  and  coldly  said, — 
*  She  is  tolerable ;  but  not  handsome  enough  to  tempt 
me ;  and  I  am  in  no  humour  at  present  to  give  con- 
sequence to  young  ladies  who  are  slighted  by  other 
^..men.' " 

Indeed,  Darcy 's  whole  character  is  so  averse  from 
'  anything  usually  associated  with  the  word  gentleman, 
that  one  wonders  where  Miss  Austen  found  her  prototype. 
Possibly  he  was  one  of  the  few  characters  for  which  she 
drew  entirely  on  her  imagination.  In  saying  this  there 
is  no  innuendo  that  in  other  cases  she  drew  straight  from 
the  life ;  it  is,  I  believe,  very  few  novelists  who  ever 
wish  to  do  such  a  thing,  but    it  is  certainly  true,  and 


A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS  i8i 

everyone  who  has  attempted  fiction  knows  it,  that  nearly 
every  character  in  a  life-like  book  has  some  prototype 
in  real  life,  some  man  or  woman  who  gave  the  first 
indication  of  a  certain  character ;  the  personality  may  be 
altered  entirely,  it  may  be  only  one  small  quality  which 
is  derived  from  the  prototype,  but  it  is  nevertheless 
that  person  who  brought  that  particular  character  into 
existence.  So  far  as  we  know  there  was  no  haughty, 
self-satisfied  man  of  the  world  in  Jane  Austen's  list  of 
acquaintances. 

It  is  true  that  Darcy  is  represented  as  behaving 
much  better  when  his  pride  has  been  bitterly  stung  by 
Elizabeth's  rejection  of  him,  but  it  is  hard  to  believe  that 
a  man,  such  as  he  is  at  first  represented,  could  have  had 
sufficient  good  in  him  to  change  his  character  completely 
as  the  effect  of  love. 

To  show  how  entirely  opinions  differ  it  is  amusing  to 
quote  some  of  the  remarks  of  Miss  Mitford,  who  wrote 
in  1 8 14,  the  year  after  the  publication  of  Pride  and 
Prejudice :  "  The  want  of  elegance  is  almost  the  only 
want  in  Miss  Austen.  I  have  not  read  her  Mansfield 
Park  but  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel  in  every  line  of 
Pride  and  Prejudice^  in  every  word  of  Elizabeth,  the 
entire  want  of  taste  which  could  produce  so  pert,  so 
worldly  a  heroine  as  the  beloved  of  such  a  man  as 
Darcy.  Wickham  is  equally  bad.  Oh,  they  were  just 
fit  for  each  other,  and  I  cannot  forgive  that  delightful 
Darcy  for  parting  them.  Darcy  should  have  married 
Jane.  He  is  of  all  the  admirable  characters  the  best 
designed  and  the  best  sustained.  I  quite  agree  with  you 
in  preferring  Miss  Austen  to  Miss  Edgeworth.  If  the 
former  had  a  little  more  taste,  a  little  more  perception  of 
the  graceful,  as  well  as  of  the  humorous,  I  know  not 
indeed  anyone  to  whom  I  should  not  prefer  her.  There 
is  none  of   the    hardness,  the    cold   selfishness,  of  Miss 


1 82  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Edgeworth  about  her  writings ;  she  is  in  a  much  better 
humour  with  the  world  ;  she  preaches  no  sermons ;  she 
wants  nothing  but  the  beau  ideal  of  the  female  character 
to  be  a  perfect  novel  writer ! " 

Miss  Mitford  would  no  doubt  have  preferred  as  a 
heroine  the  elegant  languishing  female,  without  any  of 
the  savour  of  originality  about  her,  who  was  the 
stereotyped  heroine  of  most  works  of  fiction  at  that  time. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  in  the  Quarterly  Review  of  1 8 1 5 
makes  the  base  insinuation  that  Elizabeth  having  refused 
Darcy  "  does  not  perceive  that  she  has  done  a  foolish 
thing,  until  she  accidentally  visits  a  very  handsome  seat 
and  grounds  belonging  to  her  admirer." 

'e  are  sure  from  what  we  know  of  Lizzie,  that  this 
IS  quite  unfounded.  Had  she  been  liable  to  any  undue 
influence  of  that  sort,  she  would  have  accepted  Darcy  at 
the  first,  for  she  knew  very  well  all  about  his  position 
and  estates  from  the  beginning.  That  she  had  the 
courage  and  good  sense  to  snub  him  speaks  much 
more  forcibly  for  her  character  than  a  like  action  on  the 
part  of  any  girl  similarly  circumstanced  would  do  now. 
For  then  a  position  gained  by  marriage  was  the  only  one 
a  woman  could  hope  for,  and  such  chances  were  few  and 
far  between  when,  as  we  have  seen,  men  were  desperately 
prudent  in  their  matrimonial  affairs,  and  looked  on 
marriage  more  as  a  well  considered  and  suitable  monetary 
alliance  than  as  a  love  match,  though  perhaps  the  actual 
person  of  the  woman  was  not  always  such  a  matter  of 
perfect  indifference  to  them  as  it  seems  to  have  been  to 
the  writer  of  the  following  contemporary  letter : — 

"^'^  I  thank  you  with  ye  utmost  Gratitude  for  ye  good 
ofifices  you  was  to  have  done  me ;  and  though  I  cannot 
now  for  Reasons  above  specifyd  accept  of  them,  yet  I 
hope  they  will  still  continue  in  Reversion  :  not  that  I 
have  any  schemes  for  ever  resuming  my  Designs  upon 


A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS  183 

Miss  A. :  (on  ye  contrary  I  should  be  very  loth  she 
should  wait  so  long)  but  because  whenever  my  Time  is 
come  You  are  ye  first  person  I  should  apply  to,  a^ 
having  a  good  Number  of  Friends  and  Correspondents ; 
and  none  who  are  priviledged  with  ye  Intimacy  of  Mrs. 
Jennings  can  fail  of  Accomplishments  to  render  them 
highly  agreable  to  your  most  obedient  servant."  {A 
Kentish  Country  Housed 

The  character  of  the  solemn,  pompous,  thick-skinned 
Mr.  Collins  is  the  best  of  the  kind  Jane  ever  drew ;  he 
is  a  creation  whose  name  might  signify  a  quality  of 
"  collinesqueness." 

Perhaps  within  the  limits  possible  for  quotation  there 
is  nothing  which  in  so  short  a  space  sums  up  so  well  his 
inimitable  character  as  the  letter  of  condolence  he  sends 
to  Mr.  Bennet  on  the  occasion  of  Lydia's  having  eloped 
with  the  weak  and  untrustworthy  Wickham. 

"  I  feel  myself  called  upon  by  our  relationship  and 
my  situation  in  life,  to  condole  with  you  on  the  grievous 
affliction  you  are  now  suffering  under,  of  which  we  were 
yesterday  informed  by  a  letter  from  Hertfordshire.  Be 
assured,  my  dear  sir,  that  Mrs.  Collins  and  myself 
sincerely  sympathise  with  you,  and  all  your  respectable 
family,  in  your  present  distress,  which  must  be  of  the 
bitterest  kind,  because  proceeding  from  a  cause  which  no 
time  can  remove.  No  arguments  shall  be  wanting  on 
my  part,  that  can  alleviate  so  severe  a  misfortune ;  or 
that  can  comfort  you  under  a  circumstance  that  must  be 
of  all  others,  most  afflicting  to  a  parent's  mind.  The 
death  of  your  daughter  would  have  been  a  blessing  in 
comparison  of  this.  And  it  is  the  more  to  be  lamented, 
because  there  is  reason  to  suppose,  as  my  dear  Charlotte 
informs  me,  that  this  licentiousness  of  behaviour  in  your 
daughter  has  proceeded  from  a  faulty  degree  of  indulg- 
ence; though,  at  the  same  time,  for  the  consolation  of 


1 84  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

yourself  and  Mrs.  Bennet,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
her  own  disposition  must  be  naturally  bad,  or  she  could 
not  be  guilty  of  such  an  enormity,  at  so  early  an  age. 
This  false  step  in  one  daughter  will  be  injurious  to  the 
fortunes  of  all  the  others ;  for  who,  as  Lady  Catherine 
herself  condescendingly  says,  will  connect  themselves 
with  such  a  family?  And  this  consideration  leads  me 
to  reflect,  with  augmented  satisfaction  on  a  certain  event 
of  last  November,  for  had  it  been  otherwise  I  must  have 
been  involved  in  all  your  sorrow  and  disgrace.  Let  me 
advise  you  then,  my  dear  sir,  to  console  yourself  as  much 
as  possible,  to  throw  off  your  unworthy  child  from  your 
affection  for  ever,  and  leave  her  to  reap  the  fruits  of  her 
own  heinous  offence." 

Jane's  own  impressions  of  Pride  and  Prejudice  are 
given  in  a  letter  to  her  sister,  written  many  years  later, 
on  the  publication  of  the  book — 

"  Miss  B.  dined  with  us  on  the  very  day  of  the  book's 
coming,  and  in  the  evening  we  fairly  set  at  it  and  read 
half  the  first  vol.  to  her.  .  .  .  She  was  amused,  poor 
soul !  That  she  could  not  help  you  know,  with  two  such 
people  to  lead  the  way,  but  she  really  does  seem  to 
admire  Elizabeth.  I  must  confess  that  I  think  her  as 
delightful  a  creature  as  ever  appeared  in  print,  and  how 
I  shall  be  able  to  tolerate  those  who  do  not  like  her  at 
least,  I  do  not  know.  There  are  a  few  typical  errors ; 
and  a  '  said  he '  or  a  *  said  she '  would  sometimes  make 
the  dialogue  more  immediately  clear ;  but  '  I  do  not  write 
for  such  dull  elves '  as  have  not  a  great  deal  of  ingenuity 
themselves.  .  .  .  Our  second  evening's  reading  to  Miss 
B.  had  not  pleased  me  so  well,  but  I  believe  something 
must  be  attributed  to  my  mother's  too  rapid  way  of 
getting  on :  though  she  perfectly  understands  the 
characters  herself,  she  cannot  speak  as  they  ought. 
Upon   the  whole,  however,  I   am  quite  vain  enough  and 


A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS  185 

well  satisfied  enough.  The  work  is  rather  too  light  and 
bright  and  sparkling ;  it  wants  shade,  it  wants  to  be 
stretched  out  here  and  there  with  a  long  chapter  of  sense 
if  it  could  be  had  ;  if  not,  of  solemn  specious  nonsense, 
about  something  unconnected  with  the  story ;  an  essay- 
on  writing,  a  critique  on  Walter  Scott  or  the  history  of 
Buonaparte  or  something  that  would  form  a  contrast, 
and  bring  the  reader  with  increased  delight  to  the  play- 
fulness and  epigrammatism  of  the  general  style."  And 
later,  in  reference  to  the  same  subject,  she  writes — 

"  I  am  exceedingly  pleased  that  you  can  say  what 
you  do,  after  having  gone  through  the  whole  work, 
and  Fanny's  praise  is  very  gratifying.  My  hopes  were 
tolerably  strong  of  her,  but  nothing  like  a  certainty.  Her 
liking  Darcy  and  Elizabeth  is  enough.  She  might  hate 
all  the  others  if  she  would."  (Mr.  Austen-Leigh's 
Memoir^ 

The  fact  that  Jane  felt  the  extreme  brilliancy  and 
lightness  of  her  own  work  shows  that  the  critical  faculty 
was  active  in  her,  but  as  for  wishing  to  do  away  with  it 
in  order  to  bring  the  book  more  into  conformity  with  the 
heavily  padded  novels  of  the  time,  that  of  course  is  pure 
nonsense. 

After  only  the  lapse  of  a  month  or  two  from  the 
completion  of  First  Impressions,  Jane  began  on  Sense 
and  Sensibility,  which  she  at  first  called  Elinor  and 
Marianne,  and  which,  in  the  form  of  letters,  had  been 
written  long  before ;  probably,  if  the  truth  were  known, 
this  might  be  called  her  first  long  story,  and  it  was  in 
any  case  the  first  published.  The  story  in  letters  has 
been  wittily  described  as  the  "  most  natural  but  the  most 
improbable "  form ;  and  certainly,  though  this  style  of 
novel  had  a  brief  renewal  of  popularity  a  year  or  two 
ago,  it  is  one  that  is  aggravating  to  most  readers,  and 
requires  many  clumsy  expedients  to  fill  in  gaps  in  order 


1 86  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

to  make  the  story  hang  together  connectedly.  Miss 
Burney  had  employed  it  with  good  effect  in  Evelina,  but 
even  here  the  story  would  have  run  much  better  told 
straightforwardly.  In  any  case  Jane  was  well  advised 
to  abandon  this  form.  The  novel  was  finished  in  1798 
but  not  published  until  181 1. 

Sense  and  Sensibility,  though  it  has  never  been  placed 
first  in  position  among  Jane  Austen's  novels,  has  been 
accounted  second  by  many  people.  The  two  sisters, 
Elinor  and  Marianne,  who  represent  Sense  and  excessive 
Sensibility,  are  finely  sketched.  In  this  book  the  fact 
that  Jane  Austen's  leading  men  are  not  equal  to  her 
leading  women  is  clearly  exemplified.  Mr.  Austin 
Dobson  speaks  of  the  "  colourless  Edward  Ferrars  and 
stiff-jointed  Colonel  Brandon,"  and  the  epithets  are  well 
deserved.  We  might  add  the  selfish  and  unchivalrous 
Willoughby,  for  here  may  be  noted  a  defect  not  un- 
common in  women-writers,  an  inability  to  grasp  the  code 
belonging  to  gentlemanly  conduct.  This  is  noticeable  in 
the  behaviour  ascribed  to  Darcy  in  Pride  and  Prejudice 
already  mentioned,  but  it  is  worse  in  the  case  of 
Willoughby,  who  is  supposed  to  be  brilliant,  charming, 
and  a  gentleman,  even  though  he  acts  badly  by  Marianne. 
His  long  explanation  with  Elinor,  when  Marianne  lies  on 
a  sick-bed,  and  he  himself  is  married,  is  supposed  to 
atone  for  his  bad  behaviour ;  at  all  events  it  is  made  to 
exonerate  him  in  Elinor's  eyes,  whereas,  far  from  exoner- 
ating him  in  the  eyes  of  any  ordinary  person,  it  shows 
him  in  a  worse  light  than  anything  that  has  preceded. 

It  is  only  a  scoundrel  or  cad  of  the  weakest  sort  who 
speaks  slightingly  of  his  wife,  though  unfortunately  the 
code  for  women  is  different,  and  many  a  woman  "  gives 
away "  her  husband  on  small  enough  grounds.  Yet  in 
spite  of  one  of  the  most  stringent  and  least  frequently 
infringed  rules  of  manly  conduct,  we  find   Willoughby 


A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS  187 

saying,  apparently  without  any  debasement  in  his 
creator's  eyes — 

" '  With  my  hand  and  heart  full  of  your  sister,  I  was 
forced  to  play  the  happy  lover  to  another  woman,  .  .  . 
Marianne,  beautiful  as  an  angel,  on  one  side  .  .  .  and 
Sophia,  jealous  as  the  devil,  on  the  other  hand.' "  He 
then  goes  on  to  say  that  the  letter  sent  in  his  name, 
which  had  cut  poor  Marianne  to  the  heart,  was  dictated 
by  his  wife.  " '  What  do  you  think  of  my  wife's  style  of 
letter  writing  ? — delicate — tender — truly  feminine — was 
it  not  ? ' "  and  in  excuse  for  his  marriage,  "  *  In  honest 
words  her  money  was  necessary  to  me.'" 

After  this  even  Elinor  feels  bound  to  rebuke  him, 
saying  :  "  *  You  have  made  your  own  choice.  It  was  not 
forced  on  you.  Your  wife  has  a  claim  to  your  politeness, 
to  your  respect,  at  least.' 

"  *  Do  not  talk  to  me  of  my  wife,'  "  he  replies.  "  *  She 
does  not  deserve  your  compassion.  She  knew  I  had  no 
regard  for  her  when  we  married.' " 

In  this  book  also  there  is  a  serious  blot  of  another 
sort,  a  violation  of  probabilities,  which  suffices  to  score  a 
heavy  mark  against  it.  In  Pride  and  Prejudice  there  is 
certainly  improbability  in  the  fact  that  two  portionless 
girls  like  Jane  and  Elizabeth  Bennet  should  find  such 
husbands  as  Bingley  and  Darcy,  but  the  improbability 
is  lessened  by  the  fact  that  the  pair  of  men  were  friends, 
and  so  one  match  contributes  to  the  other ;  but  in  Sense 
and  Sensibility  the  weak  subterfuge  for  getting  rid  of 
Lucy  Price,  to  whom  Edward  holds  himself  in  honour 
bound,  is  hardly  credible.  There  is  no  rational  explana- 
tion of  the  obliging  conduct  of  Robert  Ferrars,  Edward's 
brother ;  to  make  a  man  so  vain  and  selfish  marry  a 
woman  who  could  bring  him  nothing,  and  whose  charms 
were  not  great,  is  a  poor  means  of  escaping  from  an 
undesirable  deadlock. 


1 88  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

There  remain  a  few  other  points  for  comment.  We 
have  in  Mrs.  Dashwood  one  of  the  silly  though  fond 
mothers  that  Jane  Austen  delights  to  describe.  In  Mrs. 
Jennings  we  have  the  comic  relief,  not  so  clever  as  that 
supplied  by  Mr.  Collins  in  Pride  and  Prejudice  or  by 
Miss  Bates  in  Emma.  A  little  too  coarse  for  many 
people,  but  still  true  enough  to  the  times,  when  the  fact 
of  a  man's  paying  any  attention  to  a  girl  at  all  was 
sufficient  to  make  the  gossips  discuss  their  marriage  and 
settlement  in  life  with  all  openness. 

The  second  chapter,  often  quoted,  is  one  of  the  finest 
scenes  in  the  whole  book ;  here  John  Dashwood,  mind- 
ful of  his  promise  to  his  dying  father,  suggests  giving 
each  of  his  sisters  a  portion  of  one  thousand  pounds  out  of 
the  magnificent  estate  which  has  come  to  him  under  the 
entail,  but  by  the  insidious  arguments  of  his  wife  he  at 
last  settles  it  with  his  conscience  to  afford  them  such 
assistance  "  as  looking  out  for  a  comfortable  small  house 
for  them,  helping  them  to  move  their  things,  and  sending 
them  presents  of  fish  and  game  and  so  forth,  whenever 
they  are  in  season." 

The  cottage  in  which  the  Dashwoods  were  installed 
at  Barton  seems  greatly  to  have  resembled  the  cottage 
at  Chawton.  "  As  a  house.  Barton  Cottage,  though 
small,  was  comfortable  and  compact ;  but  as  a  cottage 
it  was  defective,  for  the  building  was  regular,  the  roof 
was  tiled,  the  window-shutters  were  not  painted  green, 
nor  were  the  walls  covered  with  honeysuckles.  A 
narrow  passage  led  directly  through  the  house  into  the 
garden  behind.  On  each  side  of  the  entrance  was  a 
sitting-room  about  sixteen  feet  square  and  beyond  them 
were  the  offices  and  the  stairs.  Four  bedrooms  and  two 
garrets  formed  the  rest  of  the  house.  It  had  not  been 
built  many  years  and  was  in  good  repair."  But  as 
Sense  and  Sensibility  was  written  long  before  Jane  went 


A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS  189 

to  live  at  Chawton,  it  is  possible  this  account  of  the 
cottage  was  interpolated  later,  perhaps  when  she  revised 
the  book  for  publication  in  1 8 1  i . 

On  the  whole,  though  interesting  enough.  Sense  and 
Sensibility  does  not  take  very  high  rank  among  the 
novels.  Northanger  Abbey  was  begun  in  1798,  soon 
after  the  completion  of  Sense  and  Seiisibility,  and,  unlike 
its  predecessors,  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  based 
on  existing  MSS.,  but  to  have  been  written  as  we  now 
have  it,  though  the  writing  was  spread  over  a  long 
period.  It  is  the  one  of  all  Miss  Austen's  novels  about 
which  opinions  differ  most.  It  was  written  avowedly  as 
a  skit  on  the  romantic  school,  whose  high  priestess  was 
Mrs.  Radcliffe ;  but,  as  Mr.  Austin  Dobson  says :  "  The 
ironical  treatment  is  not  always  apparent,  and  there 
are  indications  that,  as  often  happens,  the  author's 
growing  interest  in  the  characters  diverts  her  from  her 
purpose."  This  is  true  enough,  and  the  book  certainly 
improves  in  consequence  as  it  goes  on,  for  at  first  it  is 
sententious,  and  the  author  talks  aside  to  her  readers 
and  explains  her  characters  in  a  way  that  she  does 
nowhere  else.  Archbishop  Whateley  remarks  that  it  is 
"  decidedly  inferior  to  her  other  works — yet  the  same 
kind  of  excellences  that  characterise  the  other  novels 
may  be  perceived  in  this  to  a  degree  which  would  have 
been  highly  creditable  to  most  other  writers  of  the  same 
school,  and  which  would  have  entitled  the  author  to 
considerable  praise  had  she  written  nothing  better." 

The  scene  of  Northanger  Abbey  is  laid  in  Bath,  and 
it  is  easy  to  see  how  very  well  acquainted  not  only  with 
the  topography,  but  with  the  manners  of  Bath,  Jane  was. 
The  chattering  and  running  to  and  fro  from  Pump 
rooms  to  Upper  or  Lower  Assembly  rooms,  the  con- 
tinual meetings,  and  the  saunterings  in  the  streets,  with 
all  the  affected  or  real   gaiety,  and    the   magnifying  of 


I90  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

trifles,  are  cleverly  sketched  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
book.  The  sincere  but  foolish  little  heroine,  with  her 
contrast  to  and  intense  admiration  for  her  silly  and 
selfish  friend,  Isabella  Thorpe,  is  a  life-like  figure.  Her 
mother  is  one  of  the  very  few  elderly  ladies  who  are 
allowed  to  be  sensible  in  Jane's  books,  and  she  comes 
in  so  little  as  to  be  a  very  minor  figure. 

The  account  of  Bath  society  is  one  of  the  principal 
features  of  the  book,  another  is  that  it  abounds,  perhaps 
more  than  any  of  the  rest,  in  those  three  or  four  line 
summaries  which  express  so  admirably  reflections,  situa- 
tions, and  characters.  Mrs.  Thorpe's  "  eldest  daughter 
has  great  personal  beauty ;  and  the  younger  ones  by 
pretending  to  be  as  handsome  as  their  sister,  imitating 
her  air,  and  dressing  in  the  same  style,  did  very  well." 
"  Mrs.  Allen  was  now  quite  happy,  quite  satisfied  with 
Bath.  She  had  found  some  acquaintance — and  as  the 
completion  of  good  fortune,  had  found  these  friends  by 
no  means  so  expensively  dressed  as  herself."  "  Her 
[Catherine's]  whole  family  were  plain  matter  of  fact 
people,  who  seldom  aimed  at  wit  of  any  kind  ;  her  father 
at  the  utmost  being  contented  with  a  pun,  and  her 
mother  with  a  proverb." 

"  The  advantages  of  natural  folly  in  a  beautiful  girl 
have  been  already  set  forth  by  the  capital  pen  of  a 
sister  author,  and  to  her  treatment  of  the  subject  I  will 
only  add,  in  justice  to  men,  that  though,  to  the  larger 
and  more  trifling  part  of  the  sex,  imbecility  in  females 
is  a  great  enhancement  of  their  personal  charms,  there 
is  a  portion  of  them  too  reasonable,  and  too  well  in- 
formed themselves  to  desire  anything  more  in  woman 
than  ignorance." 

The  rattle-pate  Miss  Thorpe  is  sketched  with 
particular  care,  and  if  we  may  judge  from  other  con- 
temporary novels,  including  Cecilia^  this  was  by  no  means 


A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS  191 

an  uncommon  type  at  that  day.  Her  conversation  with 
Catherine  on  the  novels  she  had  read  is  worth  giving 
at  length.  She  asks :  "  *  Have  you  gone  on  with 
Udolpho  ? ' 

" '  Ves,  I  have  been  reading  it  ever  since  I  woke ; 
and  I  am  got  to  the  black  veil' 

"  *  Are  you  indeed  ?  How  delightful !  Oh,  I  would 
not  tell  you  what  is  behind  the  black  veil  for  the  world  ! 
Are  not  you  wild  to  know  ? ' 

"  *  Oh  yes,  quite !  what  can  it  be  ?  But  do  not 
tell  me,  I  would  not  be  told  on  any  account.  I  know 
it  must  be  a  skeleton,  I  am  sure  it  is  Laurentina's 
skeleton !  Oh !  I  am  delighted  with  the  book !  1 
should  like  to  spend  my  whole  life  in  reading  it,  I  assure 
you  ;  if  it  had  not  been  to  meet  you  I  would  not  have 
come  away  from  it  for  all  the  world.' 

"  *  Dear  creature  !  How  much  I  am  obliged  to  you  ; 
and  when  you  have  finished  Udolpho  we  will  read  the 
Italian  together ;  and  I  have  made  out  a  list  of  ten  or 
twelve  more  of  the  same  kind  for  you.' 

"  *  Have  you  indeed  ?  How  glad  I  am  !  Where  are 
they  all  ? ' 

"  *  I  will  read  you  their  names  directly,  here  they  are 
in  my  pocket-book.  Castle  of  Wolfenbachy  Clermont^ 
Mysterious  Warnings,  JVecropiancer  of  the  Black  Forest ^ 
Midnight  Bell,  Orphan  of  the  Rhine,  and  Horrid 
Mysteries.     Those  will  last  us  some  time.' 

" '  Yes,  pretty  well ;  but  are  they  all  horrid,  are  you 
sure  they  are  ail  horrid  ?  ' 

"  *  Yes,  quite  sure  ;  for  a  particular  friend  of  mine — 
a  Miss  Andrews — a  sweet  girl,  one  of  the  sweetest 
creatures  in  the  world,  has  read  every  one  of  them.  I 
wish  you  knew  Miss  Andrews,  you  would  be  delighted 
with  her.  She  is  netting  herself  the  sweetest  cloak  you 
can  conceive.      I   think  her  as  beautiful  as  an  angel,  and 


192  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

I  am  so  vexed  with  the  men  for  not  admiring  her !      I 
scold  them  all  amazingly  for  it.' 

" '  Scold  them !  Do  you  scold  them  for  not  ad- 
miring her  ? ' 

"  *  Yes,  that  I  do.  There  is  nothing  I  would  not 
do  for  those  who  really  are  my  friends.  I  have  no 
notion  of  loving  people  by  halves,  it  is  not  my  nature. 
My  attachments  are  always  excessively  strong.  I  told 
Captain  Hunt  at  one  of  our  assemblies  this  winter,  that 
if  he  was  to  tease  me  all  night,  I  would  not  dance  with 
him  unless  he  would  allow  Miss  Andrews  to  be  as 
beautiful  as  an  angel.  The  men  think  us  incapable  of 
real  friendship  you  know,  and  I  am  determined  to  show 
them  the  difference.' " 

And  shortly  after  she  exclaims,  " '  For  Heaven's 
sake !  let  us  move  away  from  this  end  of  the  room. 
Do  you  know  there  are  two  odious  young  men 
who  have  been  staring  at  me  this  half  hour.  They 
really  put  me  quite  out  of  countenance !  Let  us  go 
and  look  at  the  arrivals,  they  will  hardly  follow  us 
there.' 

"  In  a  few  moments  Catherine  with  unaffected  pleasure 
assured  her  that  she  need  not  be  any  longer  uneasy,  as  the 
gentlemen  had  just  left  the  Pump  room. 

" '  And  which  way  are  they  gone  ? '  said  Isabella, 
turning  hastily  round.  '  One  was  a  very  good-looking 
young  man. 

"  *  They  went  towards  the  churchyard.' 

"  *  Well,  I  am  amazingly  glad  I  have  got  rid  of  them  ! 
And  now,  what  say  you  to  going  to  Edgar's  Buildings 
with  me  and  looking  at  my  new  hat  ?  You  said  you 
should  like  to  see  it.' 

"  Catherine  readily  agreed.  *  Only,'  she  added, 
*  perhaps  we  may  overtake  the  two  young  men.' 

"  *  Oh  !  never  mind  that !      If  we  make  haste  we  shall 


COWPER 


A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS  193 

pass  by  them  presently,  and  I  am  dying  to  show  you 
my  hat. 

"  *  But  if  we  only  wait  a  few  minutes  there  will  be  no 
danger  of  our  seeing  them  at  all.' 

" '  I  shall  not  pay  them  any  such  compliment,  I 
assure  you.  I  have  no  notion  of  treating  men  with  such 
respect.     That  is  the  way  to  spoil  them.' 

"  Catherine  had  nothing  to  oppose  against  such 
reasoning,  and  therefore  to  show  the  independence  of 
Miss  Thorpe  and  her  resolution  of  humbling  the  sex, 
they  set  off  immediately  as  fast  as  they  could  walk  in 
pursuit  of  the  two  young  men." 

Perhaps  Noi'thanger  Abbey  may  be  described  as  the 
book  which  real  Austenites  appreciate  most,  but  which 
the  casual  reader  does  not  admire.  The  story  is  not 
interesting,  the  simplicity  of  Catherine  rather  irritating 
than  attractive,  and  it  is  the  form  and  the  flashes  of 
insight  in  the  book  that  make  it  so  enjoyable. 

The  writing,  though  begun  in  1798,  spread  over  a 
long  period,  for  the  book  was  not  finished  until  1803,  by 
which  time  Jane  herself  was  settled  in  Bath.  It  was 
then  offered  to  a  Bath  bookseller,  the  equivalent  of  a 
publisher  in  our  day.  He  gave  ten  pounds  for  it, 
probably  because  of  the  local  colour,  but  evidently  after 
reading  it  he  found  it  lacked  that  melodramatic  flavour  to 
which  he  was  accustomed  ;  and  it  is  also  highly  probable 
that  he  did  not  at  all  comprehend  the  delightful  flavour 
of  irony.  The  book  remained  with  him,  luckily  in  safety, 
until  thirteen  years  had  passed,  when  it  was  bought 
back  by  Henry  Austen  on  his  sister's  account  for  the 
same  sum  that  had  been  given  for  it.  When  the 
transaction  had  been  completed  he  told  the  bookseller 
that  it  was  by  the  author  of  Sense  and  Sensibility^  which 
had  attracted  much  attention,  whereat  the  man  must 
have  experienced  the  regret  he  deserved   to  feel,  as  he 

13 


194  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

had  missed  the  honour  of  introducing  Jane  to  the  public, 
an  honour  that  would  have  linked  his  name  with 
genius. 

The  book  did  not  appear  until  1 8 1 8,  when  the  author 
was  in  her  grave,  and  it  was  the  first  to  bear  her  name 
on  the  title-page.  It  was  published  in  one  volume  with 
the  last  of  her  writings,  Pet'suasion.  In  a  preface  written 
before  her  death,  she  says  of  N or thanger  Abbey — Thirteen 
years  have  made  it  "  comparatively  obsolete,  places, 
manners,  books,  and  opinions  have  undergone  consider- 
able changes."  It  is  evident,  therefore,  she  did  not 
attempt  to  bring  it  up  to  date.  This  preface  is  prefixed 
to  the  first  edition,  as  is  also  the  biographical  Memoir 
by  her  brother  which  has  already  been  referred  to. 

The  few  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  last  spent  at  Steventon,  while  these  three  works  were 
in  hand,  must  have  been  bright  ones  to  Jane ;  she  had 
found  an  outlet  for  all  the  vivacious  humour  that  was  in 
her,  and  must  have  lived  in  the  world  of  fancy  with  her 
characters,  which  were  all  very  real  to  her,  quite  as 
much  as  in  the  material  world. 

At  this  time  her  eldest  brother  James  was  living  not 
far  off,  and  on  November  8,  1796,  his  wife  had  become 
the  mother  of  a  boy,  named  Edward.  It  was  he  who 
afterwards  took  the  additional  name  of  Leigh,  affixed 
to  that  of  Austen,  and  who  published  the  Memoir  of 
Jane  Austen  from  which  we  have  already  drawn  so  much 
interesting  detail.  How  little  could  Jane  have  dreamt 
that  night  when  her  brother  sent  over  a  note  to  tell  her 
of  the  child's  safe  arrival  in  the  world,  that  more  than 
a  hundred  years  later  the  work  of  that  boy,  describing 
her  as  one  of  the  world's  famous  authoresses,  would  be 
read  eagerly.  It  was  only  the  preceding  month  that 
she  had  begun  to  work  on  the  first  of  her  delightful  books. 
When   she  went  to  see  the  new  baby  she  was  allowed   a 


A  TRIO  OF  NOVELS  195 

glimpse  of  him  while  he  was  asleep,  and  was  told  that 
his  eyes  were  "  large,  dark,  and  handsome."  What  a 
subject  for  a  picture !  She  in  her  girlishness,  quaintly- 
dressed,  bending  over  the  cot  of  the  infant,  quite  as 
unconscious  of  all  that  was  to  come  as  even  the  baby 
itself! 


CHAPTER   XI 
THE  NAVY 

THE  last  few  years  of  the  century  which  passed  so 
quietly  at  Steventon  were  times  of  continual 
change  and  stir  in  the  larger  world,  a  world  in  which 
both  Francis  and  Charles  Austen  were  taking  an  active 
part.  But  except  for  the  personal  matters  that  affected 
them,  Jane  does  not  refer  to  these  events.  It  is  true 
that  from  September  1796  to  October  1798  we  have  no 
letters  of  hers,  which  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  she 
and  her  sister  were  not  much  parted  then.  This  is  one 
of  the  disadvantages  of  a  correspondence  carried  on  with 
such  a  near  relation.  But  subsequently  to  this  break 
the  allusions  to  her  brothers'  promotions  and  prospects 
are  fairly  frequent. 

"  Admiral  Gambler,  in  reply  to  my  father's  application 
writes  as  follows : — '  As  it  is  usual  to  keep  young  officers 
in  small  vessels,  it  being  most  proper  on  account  of 
their  inexperience,  and  it  being  also  a  situation  where 
they  are  more  in  the  way  of  learning  their  duty,  your 
son  has  been  continued  in  the  Scorpion,  but  I  have 
mentioned  to  the  Board  of  Admiralty  his  wish  to  be  in 
a  frigate,  and  when  a  proper  opportunity  offers  and  it  is 
judged  that  he  has  taken  his  turn  in  a  small  ship,  I  hope 
he  will  be  removed.  With  regard  to  your  son,  now  in 
London,  I  am  glad  I  can  give  you  the  assurance  that  his 
promotion   is   likely   to   take   place   very  soon,  as  Lord 

196 


THE  NAVY  197 

Spencer  has  been  so  good  as  to  say  he  would  include 
him  in  an  arrangement  that  he  proposes  making  in  a 
short  time  relative  to  some  promotions  in  that  quarter.' 

"  There,  I  may  now  finish  my  letter  and  go  and  hang 
myself,  for  I  am  sure  I  can  neither  write  or  do  anything 
which  will  not  appear  insipid  to  you  after  this." 

Again,  "  Frank  is  made.  He  was  yesterday  raised  to 
the  rank  of  Commander,  and  appointed  to  the  Pettei^el 
sloop  now  at  Gibraltar.  .  .  .  As  soon  as  you  have  cried 
a  little  for  joy  you  may  go  on,  and  learn  further  that  the 
Indian  House  have  taken  Captain  Austen's  petition  into 
consideration,  and  likewise  that  Lieutenant  Charles  John 
Austen  is  removed  to  the  Tamar  frigate." 

Nearly  a  month  later — 

"  Charles  leaves  us  to-night,  the  Tamar  is  in  the 
Downs  and  Mr.  Daysh  advises  him  to  join  her  there 
directly,  as  there  is  no  chance  of  her  going  to  the 
westward.  Charles  does  not  approve  of  this  at  all,  and 
will  not  be  much  grieved  if  he  should  be  too  late  for 
her  before  she  sails,  as  he  may  then  hope  to  get  into  a 
better  station." 

And  two  days  after,  "  I  have  just  heard  from  Charles, 
who  is  by  this  time  at  Deal.  He  is  to  be  second 
lieutenant,  which  pleases  him  very  well.  He  expects  to 
be  ordered  to  Sheerness  shortly  as  the  Tamar  has  never 
been  refitted." 

Frank  apparently  remained  on  the  Petterel  until  he 
received  promotion  in  the  beginning  of  1801,  for  his 
sister  writes  jestingly :  "  So  Frank's  letter  has  made 
you  very  happy,  but  you  are  afraid  he  would  not  have 
patience  to  stay  for  the  Haarlem^  which  you  wish  him  to 
have  done  as  being  safer  than  the  merchantman.  Poor 
fellow,  to  wait  from  the  middle  of  November  to  the  end 
of  December,  and  perhaps  even  longer,  it  must  be  sad 
work  ;  especially  in  a  place  where  the  ink  is  so  abominably 


198  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

pale.  What  a  surprise  to  him  it  must  have  been  on 
October  20,  to  be  visited,  collared,  and  thrust  out  of  the 
Petterall  by  Captain  Inglis.  He  kindly  passes  over  the 
poignancy  of  his  feelings  in  quitting  his  ship,  his  officers, 
and  his  men.  What  a  pity  it  is  that  he  should  not  be 
in  England  at  the  time  of  his  promotion,  because  he 
certainly  would  have  had  an  appointment,  so  everybody 
says,  and  therefore  it  must  be  right  for  me  to  say  it  too. 
Had  he  been  really  here,  the  certainty  of  the  appointment, 
I  dare  say,  would  not  have  been  half  so  great,  but  as  it 
could  not  be  brought  to  the  proof,  his  absence  will 
always  be  a  lucky  source  of  regret." 

The  real  name  of  the  ship  was  evidently  the  Petrel^ 
but  it  is  very  variously  spelt  by  other  writers  beside  Jane, 
for  orthography  was  not  considered  of  great  moment  in 
the  eighteenth  century. 

Captain  Francis  Austen  had  done  good  service  on 
board  and  had  well  earned  his  promotion  ;  in  William 
James's  Naval  History  of  Great  Britain^  his  name  is 
mentioned  with  praise.  On  the  20th  March,  1800,  in 
the  evening,  while  the  Mermaid^  a  twelve-pounder  thirty- 
two  gun  frigate,  under  Captain  R.  D.  Oliver,  and  the 
ship  sloop  Petrel^  under  Captain  Francis  William  Austen, 
were  cruising  together  in  the  Bay  of  Marseilles,  the 
Petrel^  which  was  nearer  the  coast  than  the  Mermaid^ 
came  into  action  with  three  armed  vessels ;  two  escaped 
by  running  on  shore,  but  the  third,  the  Ligurienne  o\ 
"  fourteen  long  six  pounders  two  thirty-six  pounder 
carronades  all  brass "  and  with  one  hundred  and  four 
men  on  board  to  the  Petrel's  eighty-nine, — for  the  first 
lieutenant  and  some  of  the  crew  were  absent  on  prizes, — 
began  to  fight.  They  kept  up  a  running  fight  of  an 
hour  and  an  half's  duration,  within  two  hundred  and  fifty 
yards,  and  sometimes  half  that  distance.  Then  the 
Ligurienne    struck    her    colours,    her    commander    being 


THE  NAVY  199 

shot.  The  Petrel  was  at  that  time  only  six  miles  from 
Marseilles.  No  one  was  hurt  on  the  Petrel^  though  four 
of  her  twelve  pounder  carronades  were  upset,  and  the 
sails  riddled  with  shot  holes.  The  Mermaid  apparently 
stood  in  the  offing,  giving  moral  support  throughout. 
The  Ligurienne  was  a  fine  vessel,  only  about  two  years 
old,  and  her  capture  must  have  meant  good  prize-money 
into  the  pockets  of  the  captain  and  crew  of  the  PetreL 
After  describing  this  action,  Mr.  James  continues — 

"  Before  quitting  Captain  Austen  we  shall  relate 
another  instance  of  his  good  conduct ;  and  in  which, 
without  coming  to  actual  blows,  he  performed  an 
important  and  not  wholly  imperilous  service."  On  the 
thirteenth  of  August,  the  Petrel  being  then  attached  to 
Sir  Sydney  Smith's  squadron  on  the  coast  of  Egypt,  he 
was  the  means  of  burning  a  Turkish  ship  so  as  to  prevent 
the  French  from  stealing  her  guns,  and  for  this  service 
the  Captain  Pacha  presented  him  with  a  handsome  sabre 
and  rich  pelisse.  Though  his  service  seems  to  have 
landed  the  Turkish  vessel  "  out  of  the  frying-pan  into  the 
fire." 

Charles  Austen  had  seen  active  service  when  only  a 
lad  of  fifteen,  and  both  brothers  frequently  took  part  in 
the  small  actions  which  were  continually  occurring  on 
the  seas. 

There  was,  as  we  have  seen,  six  years'  difference  in 
age  between  them,  but  they  were  both  at  sea  during 
some  of  the  most  glorious  years  in  the  whole  annals  of 
England.  In  spite  of  bad  provisions,  bad  quarters,  bad 
discipline,  all  of  which  will  be  again  referred  to,  the 
English  seamen  at  this  time  showed  pluck  and  energy 
that  was  limitless.  Britain  was  absolutely  supreme  on 
the  seas.  In  1794,  Tobago,  Martinique,  St.  Lucia,  and 
Guadaloupe  were  all  taken  in  less  than  a  month.  In  the 
same  year,  Lord   Howe,  encountering   twenty-six  ships 


200  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

which  the  French  by  great  exertions  had  sent  to  sea, 
manoeuvred  for  three  days,  but  on  the  "  glorious  first  of 
June "  bore  down  upon  them  and  broke  their  hne, 
captured  six,  and  dispersed  the  rest,  while  8000  men 
were  killed  or  wounded  on  the  French  side  against  1 1  5  8 
of  the  English.  On  September  16  of  the  following 
year,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  taken  by  the  English 
under  Sir  James  Craig.  The  Dutch  made  an  attempt  to 
retake  the  Cape  in  1796,  but  the  whole  of  the  armament 
they  sent  was  captured  by  Admiral  Elphinstone.  In 
1797  the  Spaniards,  who  had  declared  war  against  Great 
Britain,  put  forth  their  full  naval  strength  to  attempt  to 
raise  the  blockade  which  bound  the  ports  of  France. 
They  were  met  by  Sir  John  Jarvis,  who  had  only  fifteen 
ships  of  the  line  against  their  twenty-seven,  and  half  the 
number  of  frigates. 

By  the  well-known  manoeuvre  the  Admiral  broke  the 
Spanish  line,  cutting  off  a  number  of  their  ships,  and 
when  three  of  the  largest  wore  round  to  rejoin  their 
comrades,  they  were  met  by  Nelson  and  Collingwood. 
Two  of  these  Spanish  ships  got  entangled  with  each 
other,  and  Nelson,  driving  his  own  vessel  on  board  of 
one  of  them,  carried  both  sword  in  hand,  and  received 
the  sword  of  the  Spanish  Rear- Admiral  in  submission  ; 
this  was  afterwards  awarded  to  him  for  his  own  posses- 
sion. The  Spaniards  were  totally  routed  and  com- 
paratively few  ships  were  taken  ;  the  battle,  which  earned 
its  commander  the  title  of  Lord  St.  Vincent,  is  considered 
one  of  the  most  important  in  the  whole  history  of 
England. 

In  October  of  the  same  year,  the  battle  of  Camper- 
down  was  gained  by  Admiral  Duncan,  and  these  two 
victories  together,  by  making  the  British  complete  masters 
of  the  home  seas  allayed  for  a  while  the  terror  of  a 
French  invasion.     The  mezzotint  by  James  Ward  from 


THE  NAVV  ^oi 

Copley's  famous  picture,  given  in  illustration,  shows  the 
variety  of  costume  adopted  by  the  British  seamen  at  that 
time,  the  style  of  the  officers'  dress,  and  gives  a  very 
good  idea  of  the  appearance  of  the  picturesque  old 
wooden  sailing-ships  in  which  such  heroic  services  were 
performed. 

The  most  amazing  part  of  this  splendid  series  of 
victories,  all  of  which  contained  much  boarding  and  hand- 
to-hand  fighting,  demanding  personal  pluck  and  endur- 
ance, is,  that  the  sailors,  as  a  mass,  were  either  unwilling 
men  pressed  into  a  service  which  they  disliked,  or  the 
very  off-scourings  of  the  country.  On  board  there  was 
bad  food,  bad  water,  wretched  accommodation,  and  often 
rank  brutality.  There  was  the  discipline  of  terror  not  of 
respect,  and  insubordination  was  only  held  down  by  fear. 

The  officers  fared  a  little  better  than  the  men  in 
regard  to  comfort,  but  it  speaks  well  for  young  Charles 
Austen  that  he  followed  in  his  brother's  steps  when  he 
must  have  known  by  word  of  mouth  of  all  the  discomforts, 
to  speak  of  nothing  worse,  which  must  be  his  lot  on 
board  ship. 

For  the  sons  of  gentlemen,  the  first  entrance  into  the 
navy  was  a  most  precarious  venture,  and  the  system,  if 
system  it  can  be  called,  so  haphazard,  that  one  marvels 
men  should  have  been  found  to  let  their  sons  attempt  it. 
A  boy  first  obtained  interest  of  some  sort  from  an 
admiral  or  captain  on  board  a  ship,  and  was  taken  by 
him  in  any  odd  capacity  for  a  voyage.  He  might  go  as 
"  boy  "  or  even  as  servant,  and  though  nominally  a  mid- 
shipman, was  in  reality  without  a  position  or  standing 
save  what  his  patron  allowed  to  him.  He  could  not  go 
in  for  an  examination  until  he  had  served  on  board  for 
six  years,  then  he  might  do  so  to  qualify  for  a  lieutenancy. 
Once  a  lieutenant  his  position  was  secured,  and  he  had 
authority  and  consequently  a  very  different  life.     Captain 


202  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Edward  Thompson,  writing  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  to  a  young  relative  who  thought  of  following  the 
sea  for  a  trade,  says,  "  Besides,  the  disagreeable  circum- 
stances and  situations  attending  a  subaltern  officer  in  the 
navy,  are  so  many  and  so  hard,  that,  had  not  the  first  men 
in  the  service  passed  the  dirty  road  to  preferment,  to 
encourage  the  rest,  they  would  renounce  it  to  a  man. 
It  is  a  most  mistaken  notion  that  a  youth  will  not  be  a 
good  officer  unless  he  stoops  to  the  most  menial  offices, 
to  be  bedded  worse  than  hogs,  and  to  eat  less  delicacies. 
In  short,  from  having  experienced  such  scenes  of  filth 
and  infamy,  such  fatigues  and  hardships,  that  are 
sufficient  to  disgust  the  stoutest  and  bravest,  for  alas 
there  is  only  a  little  hope  of  promotion  sprinkled  in  the 
cup  to  make  a  man  swallow  more  than  he  digests  the 
rest  of  his  life." 

The  wonder  is  that  such  boys  as  went  to  sea  picked 
up  enough  seamanship  to  pass  any  but  the  most  practical 
examination.  Navigation  was  in  those  days  even  more 
difficult  than  at  present,  owing  to  the  dependence  on 
the  wind  and  the  necessity  for  understanding  the  exact 
management  of  sails.  There  were  no  engineers  who 
could  make  the  vessel  go  in  any  direction  the  captain 
thought  best  at  a  moment's  notice ;  and  the  man  on 
the  bridge  had  a  heavy  responsibility. 

That  matters  in  regard  to  the  service  were  improving 
is  evident,  for  the  same  writer  quoted  above  con- 
tinues— 

"  The  last  war,  a  chaw  of  tobacco,  a  ratan,  and  a 
rope  of  oaths  were  sufficient  qualities  to  constitute  a 
lieutenant,  but  now  education  and  good  manners  are 
the  study  of  all." 

Yet  the  surroundings  on  board  ship  were  enough  to 
prevent  any  but  the  most  earnest  and  determined  youth 
from    studying ;    food    and    accommodation    were    alike 


THE  NAVY  203 

revolting.  "  At  once  you  resign  a  good  table  for  no 
table,  and  a  good  bed  for  your  length  and  breadth.  Nay, 
it  will  be  thought  an  indulgence  too  to  let  you  sleep 
where  day  ne'er  enters ;  and  where  fresh  air  only  comes 
when  forced.  You  must  get  up  every  four  hours,  and 
they  never  forget  to  call  you,  though  you  may  forget 
to  rise. 

"  Your  light  for  day  and  night  is  a  small  candle 
which  is  often  stuck  on  the  side  of  your  platter  at  meals 
for  want  of  a  better  convenience.  Your  victuals  are 
salt  and  often  bad  ;  and  if  you  vary  the  mode  of  dressing 
them  you  must  cook  yourself  ...  in  a  man-of-war  you 
have  the  collected  filth  of  jails ;  condemned  criminals 
have  the  alternative  of  hanging  or  entering  on  board. 
There  is  not  a  vice  committed  on  shore  but  is  practised 
here,  the  scenes  of  horror  and  infamy  on  board  a  man- 
of-war  are  so  many  and  so  great,  that  I  think  they  must 
rather  disgust  a  good  mind  than  allure  it." 

Smollet's  pictures  of  life  on  board  are  too  well  known 
to  quote. 

The  between  decks,  where  the  men  slept,  had  not 
been  ventilated  at  all  up  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  a  hand-pump  was  invented  to  expel  the 
foul  air,  the  fresh  air  being  left  to  find  its  own  way  in. 
The  noisome  smells,  the  cramped  space,  the  continual 
darkness  and  disorder,  must  have  bred  sickness  and 
debility  in  many,  which  all  the  open-air  life  on  deck 
could  not  counteract. 

As  for  the  food  served  for  the  men,  it  seems  to  have 
been  loathsome.  In  Tracts  relating  to  the  Victualling 
of  the  Navy^  we  read  of  "sour  tainted  pickled  meat. 
If  such  can  be  called  food — human  food — when  dogs 
that  I  have  offered  it  to  have  flaged  their  tails,  ran 
away,  and  would  not  even  smell  to  it ; "  of  "  rotten, 
musty,  weevily  flour,"  and  "  as   for    the  butter,   cheese, 


204  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

oil,  raisins,  they  might  have  been  expended,  the  cheese 
into  ammunition,  cast  into  cannon  balls,  the  raisins  as 
wadding,  the  butter  and  oil  to  grease  their  tackle  with, 
for  which  it  may  be  thought  very  fit — stinking  slush. 
It  is  no  longer  a  wonder  at  the  pursers  being  tormented 
with  execrations  and  bitter  wrath  from  remediless, 
aggrieved,  and  tortured  men  on  board." 

It  is  said  that  any  man  who  had  been  long  a  sailor, 
got  into  the  habit  of  tapping  his  biscuit  on  the  table  to 
knock  the  weevils  out  before  he  ate  it,  a  trick  that  old 
salts  were  seen  to  do  at  the  tables  of  their  friends  on 
shore ! 

As  for  the  state  of  the  hospitals  in  India  and  else- 
where, the  following  story  tells  a  tale.  "  Soon  after 
the  last  action  with  the  French  fleet,  I  observed  a 
wounded  seaman,  who  had  lost  part  of  his  hand  by  a 
shot,  climbing  up  the  side  with  one  hand,  and  holding 
his  bread  bag  in  his  teeth.  I  asked  why  he  had  left 
the  hospital.  He  answered  they  were  so  much  in  want 
of  provisions  that  he  had  come  on  board  to  beg  some 
biscuit  (which  was  full  of  maggots)  for  his  messmates. 
At  that  time  I  understood  Government  was  charged  a 
rupee  a  day  for  every  man  in  the  hospital  (about  looo 
or  1500)  but  I  believe  seven  or  eight  pence  was  all  it 
cost  the  contractor  for  their  provisions,  and  it  was 
reported  that  he  was  obliged  to  share  the  profits  with 
the  admiral  and  his  secretary,  said  to  amount  to  about 
£^0  a  day." 

We  have  had  some  revelations  of  official  corruption 
recently,  but  there  is  nothing  to  compare  with  the  openly 
recognised  stealing  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when,  so 
late  as  1783,  a  minister  could  say  in  earnest  to  a  purser 
who  had  been  a  commissary  and  complained  of  poverty, 
"  You  had  your  hand  in  the  bag,  sir,  why  did  you  not 
help  yourself?  "     And  help  themselves  everyone  appar- 


THE  NAVY  205 

ently  did,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  Enquiry  first 
began  to  be  made  by  Lord  St.  Vincent,  who  set  him- 
self to  clean  this  Augean  stable. 

There  being  a  prospect  of  a  vacancy  in  the  office 
of  the  Admiralty,  a  satirical  correspondent  to  the 
Morning  Chronicle  in  1792  forwarded  the  following  list 
of  qualities  essential  for  any  candidate  applying ; — 

He  should  know  nothing  of  a  ship. 

He  should  never  have  been  to  sea. 

He  should  be  ignorant  of  geography. 

He  should  be  ignorant  of  naval  tactics. 

He  should  never  attend  office  until  four  in  the  after- 
noon. 

He  should  be  unfit  for  business  every  day. 

He  should  be  very  regular  in  keeping  officers  waiting 
for  orders. 

He  should  not  know  a  bumboat  from  a  three  decker. 

His  hair  should  always  be  well  dressed, 

And  his  head  should  be  empty  ! 

Though  matters  were  bad  enough  for  the  officers 
they  were  fifty  times  worse  for  the  men,  and  it  is  not 
at  all  singular  that  men  should  have  been  procured 
with  difficulty  to  enter  a  service  where  they  were  liable 
to  all  sorts  of  hardships ;  to  great  risk  of  life ;  where 
they  were  at  the  mercy  of  an  irresponsible  commander, 
who  could  order  them  to  be  strung  up  on  the  slightest 
provocation,  and  given  any  number  of  lashes  he  thought 
fit ;  where  they  could  be  hanged  for  disobeying  or 
manifesting  the  smallest  revolt  to  this  tyrant ;  where 
prize-money,  which  was  freely  distributed  to  officers, 
sometimes  never  reached  the  men.  There  were  instances 
of  prize-money  fairly  due  to  the  men  being  held  over  for 
a  year  or  more  as  "  not  worth  distributing." 

The  deficiency  of  men  was,  as  we  have  seen,  supplied 
by    using    the    criminals  of  the  gaols.     Bounty   money 


206  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

was  also  liberally  offered,  the  authorities  realising  that 
a  few  pounds  ready  money  were  likely  to  be  a  valuable 
bribe  to  a  man  out  of  luck.  The  St.  James  s  Chronicle 
remarks  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  "  Five  pounds 
bounty,  and  two  pounds  extra  from  the  Corporation  of 
London  ;  surely  no  tars  can  be  found  backward." 

In  1770  the  Government  had  offered  thirty  shillings 
a  head,  which  was  augmented  by  various  towns  ;  London 
offering  forty  shillings  additional,  and  Edinburgh  forty- 
two  shillings.  In  1788  a  prohibition  forbidding  seamen 
to  serve  in  foreign  navies  was  issued,  and  in  1791  the 
bounty  money  of  London  rose  to  two  pounds  for 
an  ordinary  seaman,  and  sixty  shillings  for  an  able 
seaman.  The  city  added  twenty  shillings  to  the  one, 
and  forty  shillings  to  the  other  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war  in  1793.  And  in  1795  the  total  bounties  in  some 
places  even  amounted  to  thirty  pounds  a  head  ! 

In  1795  an  Act  was  passed  demanding  levies  of 
men  from  the  whole  country,  the  proportions  varying 
according  to  the  size  of  the  county  or  port ;  from 
Yorkshire  more  than  a  thousand  were  demanded.  In 
addition  to  this  the  pressgang  was  hard  at  work,  and 
the  monstrous  injustice  perpetrated  by  it  makes  one 
wonder  how,  even  in  times  of  greatest  stress,  it  could 
have  been  allowed. 

The  difference  between  an  ordinary  press  and  a 
"  hot  press "  was  that  in  the  latter  all  protection  was 
disregarded,  and  men  of  every  sort,  even  apprentices 
usually  protected  by  law,  were  seized  and  carried  off  to 
serve,  utterly  regardless  of  mercy.  The  odd  part  of  it 
is  that,  when  it  was  found  to  be  inevitable,  the  men  who 
had  been  taken  against  their  will  plucked  up  spirit  and 
performed  their  duties  well. 

John  Ashton  in  Old  Times  quotes  a  number  of 
cuttings    from    The    Times   of    1793   and    1794  giving 


THE  NAVY  207 

details  of  these  presses.  "  The  press  in  the  river  Thames 
for  the  three  last  days  has  been  very  severe.  Five  or 
six  hundred  seamen  have  been  laid  hold  of."     (February 

18,  1 793-) 

"  A  hot  press  has,  for  the  last  two  nights,  been 
carried  on  from  London  Bridge  to  the  Nore  ;  protec- 
tions are  disregarded,  and  almost  all  the  vessels  in  the 
river  have  been  stripped    of   their  hands."     (April    26, 

1793.) 

"  Sailors  are  so  scarce  that  upwards  of  sixty  sail  of 

merchant's  ships  bound  to  the  West   Indies,  and  other 

places,  are  detained  in  the  river,  with  their  ladings  on 

board ;  seven  outward  bound  East  Indiamen  are  likewise 

detained  at  Gravesend,  for  want  of  sailors  to  man  them." 

(January  7,  i794.) 

"  That  part  of  Mr.  Pitt's  plan  for  manning  the  navy, 
which  recommends  to  the  magistrates  to  take  cognizance 
of  all  idle  and  disorderly  people,  who  have  no  visible 
means  of  livelihood,  may  certainly  procure  a  great 
number  of  able-bodied  men  who  are  lurking  about  the 
Metropolis."      (February  1 1,  1795.) 

"  There  was  a  very  hot  press  on  the  river  on  Friday 
night  last,  when  several  hundred  able  seamen  were  procured. 
One  of  the  gangs  in  attempting  to  board  a  Liverpool 
trader,  were  resisted  by  the  crew,  when  a  desperate 
affray  took  place,  in  which  many  of  the  former  were 
thrown  overboard,  and  the  lieutenant  who  boarded  them 
killed  by  a  shot  from  the  vessel."     (June  9,  1795.) 

In  1798  all  protection  from  the  operations  of  the 
pressgang  was  suspended,  even  in  the  case  of  the  coal 
trade,  for  one  month  ! 

To  counterbalance  all  the  manifold  disadvantages 
of  service  in  the  navy,  for  the  officers  at  least,  there  were 
some  attractions  ;  that  of  prize-money  was  very  great, 
for  a  man  might  literally  make  his  fortune  at  sea  in  a 


2o8  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

few  years  by  lucky  captures,  and  the  spirit  of  gambling 
and  adventure  to  which  this  gave  rise  must  have  had  a 
very  strong  effect  in  attracting  young  officers. 

The  account  of  the  sums  received  in  prize-money  is 
perfectly  amazing ;  the  best  haul  of  all  was  perhaps 
the  Hermione,  a  Spanish  ship  taken  long  before  the 
Austens'  day,  in  1762.  The  treasure  was  conveyed  to 
London  in  twenty  waggons  with  the  British  colours 
flying  over  those  of  Spain,  a  sight  that  would  confound 
those  of  our  own  time,  who  seem  to  think  the  true  way 
to  celebrate  a  victory  is  to  give  compensation  to  those 
who  have  provoked  war,  and  brought  defeat  upon 
themselves !  The  share  of  one  ship  alone,  the  Active^ 
amounted  to  over  ;^2  50,ooo;  and  the  proportion  given 
to  the  ships  of  the  same  squadron  not  actually  present 
amounted  to  nearly  ;£"6 7,000.  The  value  of  the  St.  JagOy 
taken  in  1793,  as  adjudged  to  the  captors  was  ;£^935,ooo, 
of  which  about  ;£"  100,000  went  to  Admiral  Gell. 
{The  Times,  February  4,  1795.)  Each  captain  got 
nearly  ;£"  14,000. 

In  1 80 1,  Jane  tells  us  that  "Charles  has  received 
;^30  for  his  share  of  the  privateer  and  expects  ten 
pounds  more,  but  of  what  avail  is  it  to  take  prizes  if  he 
lays  out  the  produce  in  presents  to  his  sisters  ?  He  has 
been  buying  gold  chains  and  topaz  crosses  for  us.  He 
must  be  well  scolded." 

After  this  it  does  not  seem  so  strange  to  read  in 
Persuasion  that  in  only  seven  years  Anne's  lover, 
Wentworth,  ''  had  distinguished  himself,  and  early  gained 
the  other  step  in  rank,  and  must  now,  by  successive 
captures,  have  made  a  handsome  fortune,"  which  other- 
wise strikes  oddly  on  our  ears. 

The  abuses  in  the  navy  included  those  of  interest, 
which  in  those  days  honeycombed  every  branch  of 
professional    life.     Lord  Rodney  made  his  son  John  a 


o 

a. 
u 

< 
Q 


O 

fa 

o 
o 

H 
U 


THE  NAVY  209 

post  captain  after  he  had  been  a  midshipman  little  over 
a  month,  and  when  he  was  just  over  fifteen  years  old. 
But  this,  at  a  time  when  boys  of  fourteen  held  com- 
missions in  the  Guards,  must  have  seemed  a  trifle.  Mrs. 
Lybbe  Powys,  speaking  of  her  brother-in-law,  says — 

"  Our  young  officer  is  what  I  fear  too  generally 
young  men  in  the  army  are,  gay,  thoughtless,  and  very 
handsome ;  but  what  boy  of  fourteen,  having  a  com- 
mission in  the  Guards,  can  be  otherwise  ? " 

The  Times  of  1797  speaks  of  the  "baby  officers," 
and  says — 

"  Some  of  the  sucking  colonels  of  the  Guards  have 
expressed  their  dislike  of  the  short  skirts.  They  say 
they  feel  as  if  they  were  going  to  be  flogged." 

A  peculiar  feature  of  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  and 
beginning  of  nineteenth  centuries  was  the  tendency  to 
mutiny,  induced  doubtless  by  the  terrible  hardships  and 
injustices  undergone  by  the  men  on  board.  And  the 
wonder  is,  not  that  the  men  did  mutiny,  but  that  they 
endured  so  long  and  fought  so  splendidly  without 
doing  so. 

Some  of  the  mutineers  on  board  the  Temeraire^ 
in  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  are  thus 
described  by  an  eye-witness.  "  They  were  the  noblest 
fellows,  with  the  most  undaunted  mien,  I  ever  beheld — 
the  beau  ideal  of  British  sailors ;  tall  and  athletic,  well- 
dressed,  in  blue  jackets,  red  waistcoats,  and  trousers 
white  as  driven  snow.  Their  hair  like  the  tail  of  the 
lion,  hung  in  a  queue  down  their  back.  At  that  time 
this  last  article  was  considered,  as  indeed  it  really 
was,  the  distinguishing  mark  of  a  thoroughbred  seaman. 
Unfortunately,  these  gallant  fellows  were  as  ignorant  as 
they  were  impatient,  and  the  custom  of  the  time  was 
to  hang  everyone  who  should  dare  to  dispute  the 
orders  of  his  superior  officers." 
14 


JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Of  the  mutinies  the  most  serious  were  those  at 
Spithead  and  the  Nore,  which  followed  closely  upon  one 
another.  After  the  first,  concessions  in  regard  to  pay 
and  various  improvements  in  commissariat  were  granted  ; 
and  both  mutinies  were  put  down  firmly  and  sharply, 
but  they  were  followed  from  time  to  time  by  lesser 
outbreaks. 

All  these  excitements,  and  the  constant  changes  in 
the  pay  of  officers,  must  have  been  watched  with  interest 
by  the  Austen  family,  whom  they  touched  so  nearly. 
Jane  certainly  understood  the  best  type  of  naval  officer, 
and  had  no  little  admiration  and  affection  for  him. 

The  officers  in  her  novels  may  easily  be  divided  into 
two  sorts,  they  are  the  officers  of  the  old  school,  of  which 
Admiral  Crawford,  in  Mansfield  Park^  to  whom  his 
nephew  and  niece  were  indebted  for  their  bringing  up,  is 
a  prominent  example.  Here  is  the  aforesaid  niece's 
account  of  the  type,  when  Edmund  Bertram  asks  her 
whether  she  has  not  a  large  acquaintance  in  the  navy. 
" '  Among  admirals,  large  enough,  but,'  with  an  air  of 
grandeur,  '  we  know  very  little  of  the  inferior  ranks. 
Post  captains  may  be  very  good  sort  of  men,  but  they 
do  not  belong  to  us.  Of  various  admirals  I  could  tell 
you  a  great  deal ;  of  them  and  their  flags,  and  the 
gradation  of  their  pay,  and  their  bickerings  and  jealousies. 
But  in  general,  I  can  assure  you  that  they  are  all  passed 
over  and  all  very  ill-used.  Certainly  my  home  at  my 
uncle's  brought  me  acquainted  with  a  circle  of  admirals. 
Of  Rears  and  Vices  I  saw  enough.  Now,  do  not  be 
suspecting  me  of  a  pun,  I  entreat.' " 

Mr.  Price,  Fanny's  father,  who  is  in  the  Marines,  with 
his  noise,  and  his  oaths,  and  his  coarseness  and  ill-temper, 
is  a  terrible  revelation  to  his  gentle  daughter. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  scale  we  may  set  Admiral 
Croft  in  Persuasio?iy  a  polished  and  delightful  man, "  rear- 


THE  NAVY  211 

admiral  of  the  white.  He  was  in  the  Trafalgar  action, 
and  has  been  in  the  East  Indies  since ;  he  has  been 
stationed  there,  I  believe,  several  years." 

The  younger  generation  of  sailors  is  represented 
charmingly  in  the  novels  from  Fanny's  admirable, 
straightforward,  single  -  minded  brother  William,  who, 
when  he  came  to  Mansfield  Park  shortly  after  getting 
promoted  to  his  lieutenancy,  "  would  have  been  delighted 
to  show  his  uniform  there  too,  had  not  cruel  custom  pro- 
hibited its  appearance  except  on  duty.  So  the  uniform 
remained  at  Portsmouth,  and  Edmund  conjectured  that 
before  Fanny  had  any  chance  of  seeing  it,  all  its  own 
freshness,  and  all  the  freshness  of  its  wearer's  feelings 
must  be  worn  away ;  for  what  can  be  more  unbecoming 
or  mOre  worthless  than  the  uniform  of  a  lieutenant  who 
has  been  a  lieutenant  a  year  or  two,  and  sees  others 
made  commanders  before  him," 

Captain  Wentworth,  Anne's  lover,  who  had  been 
treated  so  cruelly  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of  her 
family,  is  gallant,  handsome,  charming,  a  man  of  the 
world,  without  having  lost  his  freshness,  and  a  man  who 
has  won  his  way  and  yet  been  unspoiled  by  flattery ;  he 
is  one  of  the  best  of  Jane  Austen's  heroes. 


CHAPTER   Xll 
BATH 

AT  the  end  of  1 800,  Mr.  Austen  made  up  his  mind 
to  put  his  son  James  into  the  rectory  at  Steventon 
as  locum  tenens,  and  himself  retire  to  live  at  Bath.  In 
those  days  parents  were  not  quite  so  communicative  to 
their  children  as  they  are  now ;  many  things  were 
decided  without  being  discussed  in  full  family  conclave, 
as  propriety  dictates  at  present,  and  the  change  of  plan 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  mooted  to  the  girls  at  all, 
so  that,  "  coming  in  one  day  from  a  walk,  as  they  entered 
the  room  their  mother  greeted  them  with  the  intelligence : 
'  Well,  girls,  it  is  all  settled.  We  have  decided  to  leave 
Steventon  and  go  to  Bath.'  To  Jane,  who  had  been  from 
home,  and  who  had  not  heard  much  before  about  the 
matter,  it  was  such  a  shock  that  she  fainted  away  .  .  . 
she  loved  the  country,  and  her  delight  in  natural  scenery 
was  such  that  she  would  sometimes  say  it  must  form  one 
of  the  delights  of  heaven."  (From  Family  MSS.  quoted 
by  Constance  Hill,  in  Jane  Austen^  Her  Homes  and  Her 
Friends^ 

The  break  up  of  the  home  of  one's  childhood  is  no 
trifling  matter,  and  it  often  carries  with  it  removal 
from  many  friends  and  neighbours  whose  society  has 
become  an  integral  part  of  life.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the 
blow  was  severe,  yet  Jane  was  of  a  cheerful  disposition,  a 

disposition  that  could  make  its  own  happiness  anywhere, 

212 


BATH  213 

and  it  was  not  long  before  she  entered  with  alacrity  into 
all  the  needful  preparations. 

She  wrote  not  long  after,  "  I  get  more  and  more 
reconciled  to  the  idea  of  our  removal.  We  have  lived 
long  enough  in  this  neighbourhood ;  the  Basingstoke 
balls  are  certainly  on  the  decline ;  there  is  something 
interesting  in  the  bustle  of  going  away,  and  the  prospect 
of  spending  future  summers  by  the  sea  or  in  Wales  is 
very  delightful.  For  a  time  we  shall  now  possess  many 
of  the  advantages  which  I  have  often  thought  of  with 
envy  in  the  wives  of  sailors  or  soldiers.  It  must  not  be 
generally  known,  however,  that  I  am  not  sacrificing  a 
great  deal  in  quitting  the  country,  or  I  can  expect  to 
inspire  no  tender  interest  in  those  we  leave  behind." 

Mr.  Austen  was  perfectly  justified  in  his  decision  to 
stop  work ;  he  was  then  seventy,  and  had  held  the  two 
livings  for  thirty-six  years,  his  son  James  was  ready  to 
take  them  up,  he  was  living  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
had  been  of  assistance  to  his  father  for  some  time  past. 
We  learn  this  from  many  casual  sentences  in  the  letters, 
such  as  the  following :  "  James  called  by  my  father's 
desire  on  Mr.  Bayle  to  enquire  into  the  cause  of  his  being 
so  horrid.  Mr.  Bayle  did  not  attempt  to  deny  his  being 
horrid,  and  made  many  apologies  for  it ;  he  did  not  plead 
his  having  a  drunken  self,  he  talked  only  of  a  drunken 
foreman,  etc.,  and  gave  hopes  of  the  tables  being  at 
Steventon  on  Monday  se'nnight  next." 

Mr.  Austen  died  in  1805,  only  four  years  after  the 
removal,  which  shows  that  he  had  not  withdrawn  from 
active  life  at  all  too  soon.  In  giving  up  country  life  he 
had  to  give  up  also  many  of  the  hobbies  in  which  he 
had  taken  delight ;  his  pigs  and  his  sheep  could  not 
accompany  him  to  Bath.  References  to  these  animals 
often  occur  in  his  daughter's  lively  letters.  "  My  father 
furnishes  him  [Edward]  with  a  pig  from  Cheesedown  ;  it  is 


214  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

already  killed  and  cut  up,  but  it  is  not  to  weigh  more 
than  nine  stone ;  the  season  is  too  far  advanced  to  get 
him  a  larger  one.  My  mother  means  to  pay  herself  for 
the  salt  and  the  trouble  of  ordering  it  to  be  cured,  by  the 
spareribs,  the  souse,  and  the  lard." 

"  Mr.  Lyford  gratified  us  very  much  yesterday  by  his 
praises  of  my  father's  mutton,  which  they  all  think  was 
the  finest  that  was  ever  ate." 

"  You  must  tell  Edward  that  my  father  gave  twenty- 
five  shillings  apiece  to  Seward  for  his  last  lot  of  sheep." 

In  Bath,  pigs,  poultry,  and  a  garden  would  be  im- 
possible, but  there  would  be  compensating  advantages. 
The  country  life  had  but  narrow  interests,  and  trifles  had 
to  be  made  the  most  of. 

Jane's  letters  for  the  last  few  years  before  leaving 
Steventon  show  some  of  the  decadence  due  to  trivial 
surroundings,  and  her  remarks  are  apt  to  be  spiced  with 
unkindness.  Evidently  her  sister-in-law,  James's  wife,  was 
not  a  favourite ;  she  objected  to  her  husband's  being  so 
much  at  Steventon,  though  Jane  notes  that  he  persevered 
in  coming  "  in  spite  of  Mary's  reproaches."  But  Jane's 
sharpness  is  also  extended  to  her  remarks  on  her 
acquaintances.  "  The  Debaries  persist  in  being  afiflicted 
at  the  death  of  their  uncle,  of  whom  they  now  say  they 
saw  a  great  deal  in  London." 

Poor  Debaries,  it  is  quite  possible  that  his  death  had 
showed  them  how  much  they  had  cared  for  him,  at  all 
events,  after  his  death  they  could  have  had  nothing  to 
gain  by  any  display  of  affection  ! 

After  a  small  ball  Jane  writes :  "  There  were  very 
few  beauties,  and  such  as  there  were  were  not  very  hand- 
some. Miss  Iremonger  did  not  look  well,  and  Mrs. 
Blount  was  the  only  one  much  admired.  She  appeared 
exactly  as  she  did  in  September,  with  the  same  broad 
f^ce,  diamond  bandeau,  white  shoes,  pink  husband,  and 


BATH  215 

fat  neck.  The  two  Miss  Coxes  were  there ;  I  traced  in 
one  the  remains  of  the  vulgar,  broad-featured  girl  who 
danced  at  Enham  eight  years  ago ;  the  other  is  refined 
into  a  nice  composed-looking  girl  like  Catherine  Bigg. 
I  looked  at  Sir  Thomas  Champneys  and  thought  of  poor 
Rosalie ;  I  looked  at  his  daughter,  and  thought  her  a 
queer  animal  with  a  white  neck."  And  later  she  adds : 
"  I  had  the  comfort  of  finding  out  the  other  evening  who 
all  the  fat  girls  with  long  noses  were  that  disturbed  me 
at  the  1st  H.  ball."  It  is  obvious  that  a  wider  horizon 
would  do  the  writer  of  these  remarks  no  harm. 

The  income  which  the  family  would  have  is  indicated 
in  the  following  remark  of  Jane's  made  about  this  time : 
"  My  father  is  doing  all  in  his  power  to  increase  his  in- 
come, by  raising  his  tithes,  etc.,  and  I  do  not  despair  of 
getting  very  nearly  six  hundred  a  year." 

Once  the  great  fact  of  the  removal  was  settled,  there 
remained  the  minor  difficulty  as  to  which  part  of  Bath 
would  be  the  best  to  live  in ;  of  this  Jane  writes : 
"  There  are  three  parts  of  Bath  which  we  have  thought 
of  as  likely  to  have  houses  in  them — Westgate  Buildings, 
Charles  Street,  and  some  of  the  short  streets  leading 
from  Laura  Place  or  Pulteney  Street.  Westgate 
Buildings,  though  quite  in  the  lower  part  of  the  town, 
are  not  badly  situated  themselves.  The  street  is  broad 
and  has  rather  a  good  appearance.  Charles  Street, 
however,  I  think  is  preferable.  The  buildings  are  new, 
and  its  nearness  to  Kingsmead  Fields  would  be  a 
pleasant  circumstance.  Perhaps  you  may  remember, 
or  perhaps  you  may  forget,  that  Charles  Street  leads 
from  the  Queen's  Square  Chapel  to  the  two  Green 
Park  Streets.  The  houses  in  the  streets  near  Laura 
Place  I  should  expect  to  be  above  our  price.  Gay 
Street  would  be  too  high,  except  only  the  lower  house 
on  the  left  hand   side   as  you  descend.     Towards   that 


2i6  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

my  mother  has  no  disinclination ;  it  used  to  be  lower 
rented  than  any  other  house  in  the  row,  from  some 
inferiority  in  the  apartments.  But  above  all  others  her 
wishes  are  at  present  fixed  on  the  corner  house  in 
Chapel  Row  which  opens  into  Prince  Street.  Her 
knowledge  of  it,  however,  is  confined  only  to  the  out- 
side, and  therefore  she  is  equally  uncertain  of  its  being 
really  desirable  as  of  its  being  to  be  had.  In  the 
meantime  she  assures  you  that  she  will  do  everything 
in  her  power  to  avoid  Trim  Street,  although  you  have 
not  expressed  the  fearful  presentiment  of  it,  which  was 
rather  expected.  We  know  that  Mrs.  Perrot  will  want 
to  get  us  into  Oxford  Buildings,  but  we  all  unite  in 
particular  dislike  of  that  part  of  the  town,  and  there- 
fore hope  to  escape."  This  was  from  Steventon  in 
January  1801. 

The  Mrs.  Perrot  is  the  aunt,  Mrs.  Leigh-Perrot, 
before  mentioned,  she  was  sister-in-law  to  Mrs.  Austen, 
and  her  husband  had  taken  the  additional  name  of 
Perrot.  It  was  from  him  that  Mr.  Austen-Leigh  in- 
herited the  additional  name  of  Leigh  when  he  came 
into  the  estate.  The  Austen  family  seem  to  have  been 
almost  as  much  in  the  habit  of  changing  their  names  as 
of  marrying  twice. 

The  topography  of  the  letter  can  only  be  appreciated 
by  those  who  know  Bath,  and  requires  little  comment. 
The  various  streets  mentioned  are  still  existing,  and  we 
can  pass  through  the  despised  Trim  Street,  survey  the 
house  in  Gay  Street  lower  rented  than  the  others, 
or  cross  over  the  river  to  Laura  Place  to  see  the 
neighbourhood  Jane  feared  would  be  too  expensive, 
just  as   well   now,  as   she  could  then. 

In  May  of  1801,  Jane,  with  her  father  and  mother, 
went  to  Bath  and  stayed  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leigh- 
Perrot    at     Paragon,    in    order    to    hunt    for    a    house. 


BATH  217 

Paragon  remains  unchanged,  the  doorways  enclosed  by 
pent-house  and  pilasters  remain  the  very  type  of  late 
eighteenth-century  architecture. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  difficulties  that  had  to  be 
encountered  by  the  Austens  in  their  quest. 

"  In  our  morning's  circuit  we  looked  at  two  houses  in 
Green  Park  Buildings,  one  of  which  pleased  me  very 
well.  We  walked  all  over  it  except  into  the  garret ; 
the  dining-room  is  of  a  comfortable  size,  just  as  large 
as  you  like  to  fancy  it ;  the  second  room  about  four- 
teen feet  square.  The  apartment  over  the  drawing-room 
pleased  me  particularly,  because  it  is  divided  into  two, 
the  smaller  one,  a  very  nice  sized  dressing-room  which 
upon  occasion  might  admit  a  bed.  The  aspect  is 
south-east.  The  only  doubt  is  about  the  dampness  of 
the  offices,  of  which  there  were  symptoms." 

"  Yesterday  morning  we  looked  into  a  house  in 
Seymour  Street  which  there  is  reason  to  suppose  will 
soon  be  empty ;  as  we  are  assured  from  many  quarters 
that  no  inconvenience  from  the  river  is  felt  in  those 
buildings,  we  are  at  liberty  to  fix  on  them  if  we  can. 
But  this  house  was  not  inviting ;  the  largest  room 
downstairs  was  not  much  more  than  fourteen  feet 
square,  with  a  western  aspect." 

"  I  went  with  my  mother  to  look  at  some  houses  in 
New  King  Street,  towards  which  she  felt  some  kind  of 
inclination,  but  their  size  has  now  satisfied  her.  They 
were  smaller  than  I  expected  to  find  them ;  one  in 
particular  out  of  the  two  was  quite  monstrously  little ; 
the  best  of  the  sitting-rooms  not  as  large  as  the  little 
parlour  at  Steventon,  and  the  second  room  in  every 
floor  about  capacious  enough  to  admit  a  very  small 
single  bed." 

"  Our  views  on  G.P.  Buildings  seem  all  at  an  end ; 
the  observation  of  the  damp  still  remaining  in  the  offices 


21 8  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

of  a  house  which  has  only  been  vacated  a  week,  with 
reports  of  discontented  families  and  putrid  fevers,  has 
given  the  coup- de-grace.     We  have  now  nothing  in  view." 

Anyone  who  has  ever  been  house-hunting  will 
sympathise  with  the  difficulties  sketched  in  these 
remarks.  It  was  finally  decided  that  the  family  should 
go  to  4  Sydney  Place,  and  later  they  removed  to  the 
despised  Green  Park  Buildings  after  all. 

The  sale  of  the  effects  at  Steventon  had  begun 
before  the  family  left,  and  continued  after. 

"  My  father  and  mother,  wisely  aware  of  the  difficulty 
of  finding  in  all  Bath  such  a  bed  as  their  own,  have 
resolved  on  taking  it  with  them  ;  all  the  beds,  indeed, 
that  we  shall  want  are  to  be  removed.  ...  I  do  not  think 
it  will  be  worth  while  to  remove  any  of  our  chests  of 
drawers,  we  shall  be  able  to  get  some  of  a  much  more 
commodious  sort,  made  of  deal,  and  painted  to  look 
very  neat  ...  we  have  thought  at  times  of  removing 
the  sideboard,  or  a  Pembroke  table,  or  some  other  piece 
of  furniture,  but  on  the  whole  it  has  ended  in  thinking 
that  the  trouble  and  risk  of  the  removal  would  be  more 
than  the  advantage  of  having  them  at  a  place  where 
everything  may  be  purchased." 

In  another  letter  she  imagines  that  the  appraisement 
of  the  furniture  for  sale  will  amount  to  about  two 
hundred  pounds,  and  when  actually  at  Bath  she  sends 
the  following  details  : — 

"  Sixty-one  guineas  and  a  half  for  the  three  cows 
gives  one  some  support  under  the  blow  of  only  eleven 
guineas  for  the  tables.  Eight  for  my  pianoforte  is 
about  what  I  really  expected  to  get."  "  Mr.  Bent 
seems  bent  upon  being  very  detestable,  for  he  values  the 
books  at  only  seventy  pounds.  Ten  shillings  for 
Dodsley's  Poems,  however,  please  me  to  the  quick,  and 
I  do  not  care  how  often  I  sell  them  again  for  as  much." 


BATH  219 

Sydney  Place  is  on  the  east  side  of  the  River  over- 
looking Sydney  Gardens,  which  had  been  opened  for 
public  entertainment  in  1795  ;  the  following  description 
of  the  Gardens  is  given  in  a  guide  contemporary  with 
Jane's  residence  in  Bath.  "  The  Kennet  and  Avon 
Canal  runs  through  the  garden,  with  two  elegant  cast- 
iron  bridges  thrown  over  it,  after  the  manner  of  the 
Chinese.  There  are  swings,  bowling  greens,  and  a 
Merlin's  swing  in  the  labyrinth.  During  the  summer 
are  public  nights,  with  music,  fireworks,  and  superb 
illuminations."  Before  Jane  herself  lived  here,  while 
she  was  staying  in  Queen  Square  with  her  brother  and 
his  family,  she  had  been  to  a  grand  gala  in  Sydney 
Gardens,  with  illuminations,  and  fireworks  which  "  sur- 
passed '*  her  expectations.  It  was  a  pleasant  part  of 
Bath,  and  probably  the  Austens  were  comfortable 
enough  here.  The  house  is  still  standing ;  it  is  one  of 
a  solid  uniform  row  facing  nearly  due  east,  and  bears  a 
plate  stating  "Here  lived  Jane  Austen  from  1801  — 
1805,"  an  inscription  not  quite  accurate  as  the  Austens 
left  in  1804.  It  is  one  great  charm  of  Bath  that, 
electric  trams  and  modern  buildings  notwithstanding, 
the  place  is  so  very  much  the  same  as  it  was  when 
Jane  knew  it.  The  narrow  intricate  streets,  the  little 
courts  and  passages,  and  jutting  houses  are  everywhere 
to  be  seen.  The  town  is  essentially  late  eighteenth 
century,  and  the  modern  buildings  are  mere  additions 
that  do  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  its  character. 

The  beautiful  abbey  had  in  her  time  been  more 
or  less  repaired,  and  the  choir  was  used  as  a  parish 
church.  But  the  pinnacles  were  added  to  the  spire 
only  in  1834,  and  the  complete  restoration  took  place 
in  1874.  The  Pump  Room,  near  at  hand,  was  built 
in  1796,  replacing  one  which  had  existed  for  forty- 
fiye  years.      If  we  except  a  few  trifles,  such  as  electric 


220  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

pendants  to  the  great  central  chandelier,  we  see  it  as  it 
was  in  Jane's  day.  The  fluted  pilasters  running  up  to 
the  ceiling  are  very  characteristic  of  the  florid  Georgian 
taste.  In  a  print  of  the  interior  of  the  Pump  Room, 
dated  1804,  we  see  all  the  women,  even  the  attendants, 
with  bare  arms  and  necks,  quite  uncovered, — a  fashion 
revived  in  1905,  —  and  some  of  the  women  wear  a 
kind  of  modified  poke-bonnet  with  "  coquelicot "  plumes. 
In  the  alcove  at  the  end  is  a  statue  of  fat  little  Beau 
Nash,  who  was  the  regenerator  and  in  some  sense  the 
maker  of  Bath. 

But  Nash's  name  is  associated  even  more  with  the 
Assembly  Rooms  than  the  Pump  Room.  The  Assembly 
Rooms  are  some  distance  from  the  Pump  Rooms  and 
the  Baths,  being  situated  not  far  from  the  famous 
crescent.  In  Jane's  time  there  were  two  sets  of 
Assembly  Rooms,  upper  and  lower,  governed  by  two 
different  masters  of  the  ceremonies,  positions  which 
were  much  coveted.  In  1820  the  Lower  Rooms  were 
burnt  down  and  not  rebuilt,  but  the  Upper  are  still 
used,  and  the  names  over  the  doors  of  the  rooms, 
Card-room,  Tea-room,  etc.,  recall  many  a  scene  in  Jane 
Austen's  novels. 

Bath  really  began  to  be  fashionable  in  the  early 
part  of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  but  it  was  Nash  who 
consolidated  its  attractions,  and  brought  it  up  to  its 
highest  pitch  of  popularity. 

When  he  went  there  "  the  amusements  of  the 
place  were  neither  elegant  nor  conducted  with  delicacy. 
General  society  among  people  of  rank  or  fortune  was 
by  no  means  established.  The  nobility  still  preserved 
a  tincture  of  Gothic  haughtiness,  and  refused  to  keep 
company  with  the  gentry  at  any  of  the  public  entertain- 
ments of  the  place.  Smoking  in  the  rooms  was 
permitted ;   gentlemen    and    ladies    appeared    in    a    dis- 


BATH  221 

respectful  manner  at  public  entertainments  in  aprons 
and  boots.  With  an  eagerness  common  to  those  whose 
pleasures  come  but  seldom,  they  generally  continued 
them  too  long,  and  thus  they  were  rendered  disgusting 
by  too  free  an  enjoyment.  If  the  company  liked  each 
other  they  danced  till  morning.  If  any  person  lost 
at  cards  he  insisted  on  continuing  the  game  till  luck 
should  turn.  The  lodgings  for  visitants  were  paltry, 
though  expensive,  the  dining-rooms  and  other  chambers 
were  floored  with  boards  coloured  brown  with  soot 
and  small  beer  to  hide  the  dirt ;  the  walls  were  covered 
with  unpainted  wainscot,  the  furniture  corresponded 
with  the  meanness  of  the  architecture ;  a  few  oak 
chairs,  a  small  looking-glass,  with  a  fender  and  tongs, 
composed  the  magnificence  of  these  temporary  habita- 
tions. The  city  was  in  itself  mean  and  contemptible,  no 
elegant  buildings,  no  open  streets,  no  uniform  squares." 

Thither  Nash  came  in  1705.  He  was  the  man 
of  all  others  to  organise  fashionable  entertainments. 
Under  his  severe,  yet  fatherly  rule,  the  place  sprang 
quickly  into  popularity.  Houses  were  built,  streets 
repaved,  balls  and  entertainments  followed  each  other 
in  quick  succession.  An  Assembly  Room  was  built, 
and  good  music  engaged;  but  it  was  not  until  1769, 
eight  years  after  Nash's  death,  that  the  present  building 
was  erected.  Nash's  code  of  rules  continued  in  force 
for  long  after  his  death,  before  which  he  had  sunk 
from  the  position  of  esteem  which  he  had  once  enjoyed. 
His  rules  throw  some  light  on  the  conduct  of  these 
delightful  assemblies,  and  are  worth  quoting — 


I.  That  a  visit  of  ceremony  at  first  coming,  and 
another  at  going  away,  are  all  that  are  expected  or 
desired  by  ladies  of  quality  and  fashion — except  im- 
pertinents. 


222  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

2.  That  ladies  coming  to  the  ball  appoint  a  time  for 
their  footmen  coming  to  wait  on  them  home,  to  prevent 
disturbance  and  inconvenience  to  themselves  and  others. 

3.  That  gentlemen  of  fashion  never  appearing  in  a 
morning  before  the  ladies  in  gowns  and  caps  show 
breeding  and  respect. 

4.  That  no  person  take  it  ill  that  anyone  goes  to 
another's  play  or  breakfast  and  not  theirs ;  except 
captious  by  nature. 

5.  That  no  gentleman  give  his  ticket  for  the  balls 
to  any  but  gentlewomen.  N.B. — Unless  he  has  none 
of  his  acquaintance. 

6.  That  gentlemen  crowding  before  the  ladies  at  the 
ball  show  ill  manners ;  and  that  none  do  so  for  the  future 
except  such  as  respect  nobody  but  themselves. 

7.  That  no  gentleman  or  lady  takes  it  ill  that 
another  dances  before  them ;  except  such  as  have  no 
pretence  to  dance  at  all. 

8.  That  the  elder  ladies  and  children  be  content  with 
a  second  bench  at  a  ball,  as  being  past  or  not  come  to 
perfection. 

9.  That  the  younger  ladies  take  notice  how  many 
eyes  observe  them. 

10.  That  all  whisperers  of  lies  or  scandal  be  taken 
for  their  authors. 

11.  That  all  repeaters  of  such  lies  and  scandal  be 
shunned  by  the  company;  except  such  as  have  been 
guilty  of  the  same  crime. 

Nash's  rigour  in  regard  to  appearances  in  the  case 
of  top-boots  is  elsewhere  mentioned,  he  disliked  quite 
as  much  the  aprons  which  smart  ladies  then  wore  on 
many  occasions,  and  when  the  Duchess  of  Queensberry 
entered  one  evening  in  one  of  these,  he  snatched  it 
off  and  flung  it  over  the  back  benches  among  the 
ladies'  maids. 

The  rules  for  balls  were  probably  very  much  the 
same  when  Jane  Austen  attended  them  as  when  Nash 
was  living.     Everything  was  to  be  performed  in  proper 


BATH  223 

order.  Each  ball  was  to  open  with  a  minuet  danced 
by  two  persons  of  the  highest  distinction  present. 
When  the  minuet  concluded  the  lady  was  to  return 
to  her  seat,  and  Mr.  Nash  was  to  bring  the  gentleman 
a  new  partner.  The  minuets  generally  continued  two 
hours.  At  eight  the  country  dances  began,  ladies  of 
quality  according  to  their  rank  standing  up  first. 
About  nine  o'clock  a  short  interval  was  allowed  for 
rest,  and  for  the  gentlemen  to  help  their  partners  to 
tea,  the  ball  having  begun,  it  must  be  remembered, 
about  six.  The  company  pursued  their  amusements 
until  the  clock  struck  eleven,  when  the  music  ceased 
instantly  ;  and  Nash  never  allowed  this  rule  to  be  broken, 
even  when  the  Princess  Amelia  herself  pleaded  for 
one  dance  more. 

Among  other  rules  was  one  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Austen-Leigh,  that  ladies  who  intended  to  dance  minuets 
were  requested  to  wear  lappets  to  distinguish  them. 
Also,  in  order  that  every  lady  may  have  an  opportunity^ 
of  dancing,  gentlemen  should  change  their  partners  everyC^ 
two  dances.  We  see  in  this  last  rule  how  the  transi- 
tion from  one  partner  for  the  whole  everling  to  the 
continual  change  of  partners  came  to  pass. 

After  returning  from  Lyme  Regis  in  the  autumn 
of  1804,  the  Austens  left  Sydney  Place,  and  went  to 
Green  Park  Buildings,  which  had  been  among  the 
houses  first  considered.  They  were  here  when  Mr. 
Austen's  death  occurred  in  January  1805;  and  then 
Mrs.  Austen  and  her  daughters  moved  into  lodgings 
in  Gay  Street. 

Mrs.  Lybbe  Powys  gives  us  a  lively  word-picture  of 
Bath  in  1805 — 

"  The  Dress  Ball,  Upper  Rooms  immensely  crowded 
at  ten ;  but  the  number  of  card  parties  quite  spoilt 
the  balls,  as  'tis  fashionable  to  attend  five  or  six  before 


224  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

you  go  to  the  room.  It  was  endeavoured  to  alter 
these  hours,  but  fortunately  for  the  old  people,  and 
those  who  drink  the  waters,  it  was  not  permitted,  and 
at  eleven,  if  in  the  middle  of  a  dance,  the  music  stops. 
But  I  suppose  'tis  reckoned  vulgar  to  come  early,  one 
sees  nothing  of  the  dancing  or  company  for  the  crowds. 
The  rooms  are  not  half  so  agreeable  as  they  were 
some  years  ago,  when  the  late  London  hours  were 
not  thought  of;  and  how  prejudicial  must  they  be  to 
the  health  of  all,  is  very  visible  in  the  young  as  in  the 
old.  .  .  .  Sixteen  thousand  strangers  at  Bath  in  the 
season  1805  ! " 

Of  Bath  itself  we  hear  in  the  satirical  skit  called 
The  New  Guide — 

"Of  all  the  gay  places  the  world  can  afford, 
By  gentle  and  simple  for  pastime  adored, 
Fine  balls,  and  fine  concerts,  fine  buildings  and  springs. 
Fine  walks  and  fine  views  and  a  thousand  fine  things. 
Not  to  mention  the  sweet  situation  and  air, 
What  place,  my  dear  mother,  with  Bath  can  compare?" 

There  is  little  reason  to  doubt  that  Jane  would 
thoroughly  enjoy  the  change  afforded  by  such  constant 
opportunity  for  diversion,  such  delightful  mingling  with 
a  crowd  in  which  her  bright  humour  must  have  found 
frequent  opportunities  for  indulgence. 

As  we  have  seen,  she  had  written  her  first  Bath 
book,  Northanger  Abbey ^  many  years  before,  and  while 
she  sat  in  the  Pump  Room,  awaited  a  partner  in  the 
Assembly  Rooms,  or  shopped  in  Milsom  Street,  she 
must  have  recalled  her  own  creations,  Catherine 
Morland  and  Isabella  Thorpe,  Henry  Tilney  and  Mrs. 
Allen,  quite  as  vividly  as  if  they  were  real  persons  of 
her  acquaintance. 

The  second  Bath  book,  Persuasion^  was  not  written 
until   many  years   after,  yet  these  two,  chronologically 


BATH  225 

so  far  apart,  topographically  so  near  each  other,  have 
always  been,  owing  to  conditions  of  length,  bound 
together. 

This  is  Jane's  own  account  of  her  first  ball  after 
coming  to  live  at  Bath :  "  I  dressed  myself  as  well  as 
I  could,  and  had  all  my  finery  much  admired  at  home. 
By  nine  o'clock  my  uncle,  aunt,  and  I  entered  the 
Rooms,  and  linked  Miss  Winstone  on  to  us.  Before 
tea  it  was  rather  a  dull  affair ;  but  then  tea  did  not 
last  long,  for  there  was  only  one  dance,  danced  by 
four  couple,  think  of  four  couple  surrounded  by  about 
an  hundred  people  dancing  in  the  Upper  Rooms  at 
Bath !  After  tea  we  cheered  up ;  the  breaking  up  of 
private  parties  sent  some  scores  more  to  the  ball,  and 
though  it  was  shockingly  and  inhumanly  thin  for  this 
place,  there  were  people  enough,  I  suppose,  to  have 
made  five  or  six  very  pretty  Basingstoke  assemblies." 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  this  with  her  account  of 
her  heroine,  Catherine  Morland's  first  appearance  :  "  Mrs. 
Allen  was  so  long  in  dressing,  that  they  did  not  enter 
the  ball-room  till  late.  The  season  was  full,  the  room 
crowded,  and  the  two  ladies  squeezed  in  as  well  as 
they  could.  As  for  Mr.  Allen  he  repaired  directly  to 
the  card-room  and  left  them  to  enjoy  a  mob  by  them- 
selves. With  more  care  for  the  safety  of  her  new  gown 
than  for  the  comfort  of  her  protegee,  Mrs.  Allen  made 
her  way  through  the  throng  of  men  by  the  door,  as 
swiftly  as  the  necessary  caution  would  allow ;  Catherine, 
however,  kept  close  at  her  side,  and  linked  her  arm 
too  firmly  within  her  friend's  to  be  torn  asunder  by 
any  common  effort  of  a  struggling  assembly.  But  to 
her  utter  amazement  she  found  that  to  proceed  along 
the  room  was  by  no  means  the  way  to  disengage 
themselves  from  the  crowd ;  it  seemed  rather  to  increase 
as  they  went  on  ;  whereas  she  had  imagined   that  when 

15 


226  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

once   fairly   within    the    door,    they    should    easily    find 
seats,   and   be  able   to   watch   the   dances   with    perfect 
convenience.      But  this  was   far    from    being    the    case; 
and  though  by  unwearied   diligence   they   gained   even 
the  top  of  the  room,  their  situation  was  just  the  same ; 
they  saw  nothing  of  the  dancers,  but  the  high  feathers 
of  some  of  the  ladies.      Still  they  moved  on,  something 
better  was  yet  in  view ;  and  by  a  continued  exertion  of 
strength  and  ingenuity  they    found   themselves    at   last 
in  the  passage  behind   the  highest  bench.      Here  there 
was   something  less   of  crowd   than   below ;  and   hence 
Miss    Morland    had    a    comprehensive    view    of   all    the 
company   beneath   her,   and  of  all    the    dangers  of  her 
late   passage   through   them.      It   was  a   splendid  sight, 
and   she  began,  for  the    first  time  that  evening,  to  feel 
herself  at  a  ball,  she  longed  to  dance,  but  she  had  not 
an     acquaintance     in     the    room.  .  ,  .  Everybody    was 
shortly  in   motion   for  tea,  and  they  must  squeeze  out 
like  the  rest  .  .   .  and  when  they  at  last  arrived  in  the 
tea-room  .  .  .  they  were  obliged  to  sit  down  at  the  end 
of  a  table,  at  which  a  large  party  were  already  placed, 
without   having   anything   to   do   there,   or   anybody   to 
speak  to  except  each  other.  .  .  .   After  some  time  they 
received  an  offer  of  tea  from  one  of  their  neighbours ; 
it  was   thankfully  accepted,  and  this  introduced  a  light 
conversation  with  the  gentleman  who  offered  it,  which 
was  the  only  time  that  anybody   spoke  to  them   during 
the  evening,   till   they  were    discovered    and  joined   by 
Mr.  Allen  when  the  dance  was  over. 

" '  Well,  Miss  Morland,'  said  he  directly,  *  I  hope  you 
have  had  an  agreeable  ball.' 

« <  Very   agreeable   indeed,'   she   replied,    vainly    en- 
deavouring to  hide  a  great  yawn." 

But   poor   Catherine   was    much    more   fortunate    in 
her  second    essay,  being   introduced    to    Henry   Tilney, 


BATH  227 

the  hero,  who  captivated  her  girlish  admiration,  and 
who  at  last,  struck  by  her  naivete  and  earnest  affection 
for  himself,  fell  in  love  with  her  and  made  her  his 
wife. 

In  Northanger  Abbey ^  Jane  places  the  Thorpes  in 
Edgar  Buildings,  which  she  always  spells  "  Edgar's," 
the  Tilneys  in  Milsom  Street,  and  Catherine  Morland 
with  the  Aliens  in  Pulteney  Street.  Her  topography 
is  always  very  exact  and  unimpeachable.  Milsom 
Street  also  plays  a  large  part  in  Persuasion,  It  is 
here  that  Anne  comes  across  Admiral  Croft  looking 
into  a  print  shop  window,  from  whence  he  accompanies 
her  back  to  Camden  Place  where  her  father  and  sister 
are,  and  in  the  course  of  the  walk  Anne  learns,  to 
her  infinite  relief,  that  Louisa  Musgrove  is  engaged 
to  Captain  Benwick,  so  that  the  terrible  thought  that 
she  might  hear  any  day  of  her  engagement  to  Captain 
Wentworth  is  dispelled  for  ever.  In  Milsom  Street  also, 
while  sheltering  in  a  shop  from  the  rain,  she  first  sees 
Captain  Wentworth  after  his  arrival  in  Bath,  and  on 
his  coming  accidentally  into  the  same  shop  with  some 
friends,  both  he  and  she  are  unable  to  hide  their  signs 
of  perturbation.  But  it  is  at  a  concert  in  the  Upper 
Rooms  that  Anne  goes  through  far  worse  disquietude, 
while,  with  the  tormenting  uncertainty  of  an  undeclared 
love,  she  sits  wondering  whether  he  will  come  to  speak 
to  her  or  not. 

It  is  at  the  White  Hart  Inn,  which  overlooked  the 
entrance  to  the  Pump  Room  Arcade,  that  the  real  crisis 
of  the  book  takes  place.  Here  Anne,  on  coming  to 
spend  the  day  with  her  sister  Mary,  Mrs.  Charles 
Musgrove,  who  is  staying  there  with  her  husband,  finds 
Captain  Harville  and  Captain  Wentworth.  It  is  her 
conversation  with  the  former  that  reveals  to  the  latter 
her  own   unchanged   feelings,  and  gives  him  the  courage 


228  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

to  write  her  a  letter  declaring  once  more  his  own  love, 
after  the  lapse  of  many  years.,  Anne  is  thereby  re- 
warded for  her  gentle  loyalty,  and  when  in  going  up 
Union  Street  with  her  brother-in-law  she  is  overtaken 
by  Captain  Wentworth,  and  handed  over  to  his  charge, 
mutual  explanations  are  made  and  mutual  happiness 
reached. 

Certainly  to  the  lovers  of  Jane  Austen's  books  these 
characters  people  the  streets  quite  as  vividly  as  any 
flesh-and-blood  persons  who  have  ever  lived  in  them. 


CHAPTER   XIII 
DRESS  AND  FASHIONS 

JANE  AUSTEN  had  a  lively  and  natural  interest  in 
dress,  and  her  letters  abound  in  allusions  to  fashions, 
new  clothes,  and  contrivances  for  bringing  into  the 
mode  those  that  had  fallen  behind  it.  She  cannot  have 
had  much  chance  of  seeing  new  fashions  at  Steventon, 
but  when  she  went  to  a  town  her  instincts  revived. 
During  her  visit  to  Bath,  1799,  when  she  was  staying 
with  her  brother  Edward  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  and 
some  of  their  children,  she  writes — 

"  My  cloak  is  come  home,  I  like  it  very  much,  and 
can  now  exclaim  with  delight,  like  J.  Bond  at  hay 
harvest,  *  This  is  what  I  have  been  looking  for  these 
three  years.'  I  saw  some  gauzes  in  a  shop  in  Bath 
Street  yesterday  at  only  fourpence  a  yard,  but  they  were 
not  so  good  or  so  pretty  as  mine.  Flowers  are  very 
much  worn,  and  fruit  is  still  more  the  thing.  Elizabeth 
has  a  bunch  of  strawberries,  and  I  have  seen  grapes, 
cherries,  plums,  and  apricots.  There  are  likewise 
almonds  and  raisins,  French  plums,  and  tamarinds  at  the 
grocers',  but  I  have  never  seen  any  of  them  in  hats.  A 
plum  or  greengage  would  cost  three  shillings  ;  cherries 
and  grapes  about  five,  I  believe,  but  this  is  at  some  of 
the  dearest  shops." 

The  fashion  to  which  she  refers  was  soon  carried  to 
excess ;  Hannah  More  in   her  Diary  says  that  she  met 

229 


230  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

women  who  had  on  their  heads  "  an  acre  and  a  half  of 
shrubbery,  besides  slopes,  grass-plats,  tulip  beds,  clumps 
of  peonies,  kitchen-gardens,  and  green-houses,"  and  she 
"  had  no  doubt  that  they  held  in  great  contempt  our 
roseless  heads  and  leafless  necks." 

"  Some  ladies  carry  on  their  heads  a  large  quantity 
of  fruit,  and  yet  they  would  despise  a  poor  useful 
member  of  society  who  carried  it  there  for  the  purpose  of 
selling  it  for  bread." 

This  fashion  continued  to  increase  until  it  was 
mimicked  by  Garrick,  who  appeared  on  the  stage  with  a 
mass  of  vegetables  on  his  head,  and  a  large  carrot 
hanging  from  each  side,  and  ridicule  killed  the  folly.  It 
seems  quite  certain  that  fashion,  which  never  reached 
such  grotesque  monstrosities  as  in  the  lifetime  of  Jane 
Austen,  hardly  touched,  in  its  extremer  modes,  herself 
and  her  sister,  who  kept  to  the  simpler  styles  with  good 
taste.  In  fact  the  jest  about  the  grocers  shows  that  Jane 
herself  saw  the  humour  of  the  thing  even  when  living  in 
the  very  midst  of  it,  a  most  unusual  acuteness.  She 
describes  her  own  hat  in  the  same  letter  as  being  "  A 
pretty  hat, — a  pretty  style  of  hat  too.  It  is  something 
like  Eliza's,  only,  instead  of  being  all  straw,  half  of  it  is 
narrow  purple  ribbon,"  which  seems  simple  enough. 

What  one  would  like  to  get  is  some  mental  picture 
of  Jane  as  she  appeared  indoors  and  out  of  doors,  and 
this  is  extremely  difficult.  In  the  illustration  "  Dressing 
to  go  Out,"  by  Tomkins,  we  get  some  idea  of  everyday 
fashions.  The  simple  style  of  a  plain  material,  with 
perhaps  a  little  spot  or  sprig  upon  it,  of  soft  muslin, 
made  with  a  flowing  skirt,  and  a  chemisette  folded  in, 
and  with  sleeves  reaching  only  to  the  elbow,  was  doubt- 
less the  most  ordinary  kind  of  indoor  dress  for  women ; 
add  to  this  a  cap,  and  this  is  as  near  as  we  can  get 
to  Jane's  usual  appearance.     The  caps,  however,  varied 


DRESSING   TO   GO  OUT 


DRESS  AND  FASHIONS  231 

greatly,  being  worn  both  indoors  and  also  for  driving. 
Mr  Austen-Leigh  remarks  that  Jane  and  her  sister  took 
to  wearing  caps  earlier  in  life  than  was  generally  the 
custom,  but,  on  the  contrary,  caps  were  worn  by  very 
young  girls  at  this  period,  for  Mrs.  Papendick  says  in 
her  Journal,  which  is  contemporary,  that  no  young  girl 
of  eighteen  was  seen  in  public  without  some  head- 
covering  of  this  description.  We  learn  many  particulars 
of  the  different  kinds  of  cap  worn  by  Jane  from  her  own 
letters. 

"  I  have  made  myself  two  or  three  caps  to  wear  of 
evenings  since  I  came  home,  and  they  save  me  a  world  of 
torment  as  to  hairdressing  which  at  present  gives  me  no 
trouble  beyond  washing  and  brushing,  for  my  long  hair 
is  always  plaited  up  out  of  sight,  and  my  short  hair  curls 
well  enough  to  want  no  papering." 

"  I  took  the  liberty  a  few  days  ago  of  asking  your 
black  velvet  bonnet  to  lend  me  its  caul,  which  it  readily 
did,  and  by  which  I  have  been  enabled  to  give  a  con- 
siderable improvement  of  dignity  to  the  cap,  which  was 
before  too  nidgetty  to  please  me. ...  I  still  venture  to  retain 
the  narrow  silver  round  it,  put  twice  round  without  any 
bow,  and  instead  of  the  black  military  feather  shall  put 
in  the  coquelicot  one  as  being  smarter,  and  besides 
coquelicot  is  to  be  all  the  fashion  this  winter.  After 
the  ball  I  shall  probably  make  it  entirely  black." 

"  I  am  not  to  wear  my  white  satin  cap  to-night  after 
all ;  I  am  to  wear  a  mamalouc  cap  instead,  which  Charles 
Fowle  sent  to  Mary,  and  which  she  lends  me.  It  is  all 
the  fashion  now,  worn  at  the  opera,  and  by  Lady  Mildmay 
at  Hackwood  balls." 

The  word  "  mamalouc "  was  used  at  this  time  to 
describe  many  articles  of  dress ;  it  had  come  into  fashion 
after  Nelson's  great  victory  in  Egypt,  and  there  were 
mamalouc   cloaks    as  well    as    caps,  but   whether    these 


232  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

articles  of  attire  bore  the  most  distant  resemblance  to 
those  worn  in  Egypt,  or  whether  the  word  was  tacked 
on  to  them  merely  for  the  purpose  of  advertisement,  I 
do  not  know.  Another  cap  Jane  mentions  seems  to 
have  been  much  more  pert :  "  Miss  Hare  had  some  pretty 
caps  and  is  to  make  me  one  like  one  of  them,  only  white 
satin  instead  of  blue.  It  will  be  satin  and  lace  and  a 
little  white  flower  perking  out  of  the  left  ear,  like  Harriot 
Byron's  feather.  I  have  allowed  her  to  go  as  far  as  one 
pound  sixteen."  "  My  cap  has  come  home,  and  I  like  it 
very  much,  Fanny  has  one  also,  hers  is  white  sarsenet 
and  lace,  of  a  different  shape  from  mine,  more  fit  for 
morning  carriage  wear,  which  is  what  it  is  intended  for, 
and  is  in  shape  exceedingly  like  our  own  satin  and  lace 
of  last  winter,  shaped  round  the  face  exactly  like  it,  with 
pipes  and  more  fulness  and  a  round  crown  inserted 
behind.  My  cap  has  a  peak  in  front.  Large  full  bows 
of  very  narrow  ribbon  (old  twopenny)  are  the  thing. 
One  over  the  right  temple  perhaps,  and  another  at  the 
left  ear." 

Some  ladies  used  to  hang  at  the  back  of  their 
turban-like  caps  four  or  five  ostrich  feathers  of  different 
colours.  But  apparently  a  bow  or  a  bit  of  ribbon  some- 
times w^as  worn  instead  of  a  cap,  and  supposed  to  re- 
present it,  just  as  a  bit  of  wire  and  gauze  a  few  years 
ago  was  supposed  to  be  a  toque.  In  one  place  Jane 
says — 

"  I  wore  at  the  ball  your  favourite  gown,  a  bit  of 
muslin  of  the  same  round  my  head  bordered  with  Mrs. 
Cooper's  band,  and  one  little  comb." 

The  fashion  of  caps  for  middle-aged  ladies  has  so 
recently  gone  out  that  it  is  well  remembered,  but  the 
fashion  of  night-caps,  which  belongs  to  a  much  older 
generation,  seems  to  us  now  curious.  They  were  then 
an    essential    part    of   a  wardrobe ;    Henry  Bickersteth, 


DRESS  AND  FASHIONS  233 

afterwards  Lord  Langdale,  writes  to  his  mother  in  1 800, 
"  I  must  give  you  my  thanks  for  the  supply  of  linen  you 
have  sent  me ;  it  was  indeed  seasonable,  as  that  which  I 
had  before  was  completely  worn  out.  I  am  still  obliged 
to  solicit  some  night-caps."  He  was  then  only  a  boy  of 
sixteen,  and  the  vision  of  all  the  boys  in  a  school  going 
to  bed  in  night-caps  is  a  funny  one. 

Head-dresses  reached  their  climax  of  absurdity  at  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  but  the  styles  varied  so 
much  that  almost  everyone  could  please  themselves. 
At  a  famous  trial  only  a  few  ladies  were  dressed  in  the 
French  taste.  "  All  the  rest,  decked  in  the  finest  manner 
with  brocades,  diamonds,  and  lace,  had  no  other  head- 
dress, but  a  ribband  tied  to  their  hair,  over  which  they 
wore  a  flat  hat,  adorned  with  a  variety  of  ornaments.  It 
requires  much  observation  to  be  able  to  give  full  account 
of  the  great  effect  produced  by  this  hat ;  it  affords  the 
ladies  who  wear  it  that  arch  and  roguish  air,  which  the 
winged  hat  gives  to  Mercury."  And  Sir  Walter  Besant 
says :  *'  The  women  wore  hoods,  small  caps,  enormous 
hats,  tiny  milkmaid's  straw  hats ;  hair  in  curls  and  flat 
to  the  head  ;  '  pompoms,'  or  huge  structures  two  or  three 
feet  high,  with  all  kinds  of  decorations — ribbons,  birds' 
nests,  ships,  carriages  and  waggons  in  gold  and  silver 
lace — in  the  erection." 

"  Nothing  can  be  conceived  so  absurd,  extragavant, 
fantastical,  as  the  present  mode  of  dressing  the  head. 
Simplicity  and  modesty  are  things  so  much  exploded, 
that  the  very  names  are  no  longer  remembered.  I  have 
just  escaped  from  one  of  the  most  fashionable  disfigurers  ; 
and  though  I  charged  him  to  dress  me  with  the  greatest 
simplicity,  and  to  have  only  a  very  distant  eye  upon  the 
fashion,  just  enough  to  avoid  the  pride  of  singularity 
without  running  into  ridiculous  excess,  yet  in  spite  of  all 
these  sage   didactics,   I   absolutely  blush  at  myself  and 


234  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

turn  to  the  glass  with  as  much  caution  as  a  vain  beauty, 
just  risen  from  the  small-pox,  which  cannot  be  a  more 
disfiguring  disease  than  the  present  mode  of  dressing." 
(H.  More,  i;7  5-) 

But  in  1787  a  great  change  occurred  in  the  mode  of 
hair-dressing,  the  huge  cushions  disappeared  and  the 
main  part  of  the  hair  was  gathered  together  at  the  back 
in  a  chignon  from  which  one  or  two  loose  curls  were 
allowed  to  escape. 

The  long  feathers,  which  have  already  been  com- 
mented on,  varied  in  number  from  three  to  one,  and 
continued  to  be  worn  well  on  into  the  nineteenth  century. 
These  feathers  appeared  in  turbans,  bonnets,  and  head- 
dresses of  all  kinds,  and  hardly  a  picture  of  the  period 
representing  ladies  at  a  card-table  does  not  show  one  or 
more  of  these  ludicrous  quivering  monstrosities. 

Samuel  Rogers  says  that  he  had  been  to  Ranelagh 
in  a  coach  with  a  lady  who  was  obliged  to  sit  on  a  stool 
on  the  floor  of  the  coach  on  account  of  the  height  of  her 
head-dress. 

Fantastic  headgear  was  not  in  Jane's  line,  all  the 
accounts  of  her  hats  and  bonnets  are  simple.  "  My 
mother  has  ordered  a  new  bonnet  and  so  have  I ;  both 
white  strip  trimmed  with  white  ribbon.  I  find  my  straw 
bonnet  looking  very  much  like  other  people's  and  quite 
as  smart.  Bonnets  of  cambric  muslin  are  a  good  deal 
worn,  and  some  of  them  are  very  pretty,  but  I  shall 
defer  one  of  that  sort  until  your  arrival." 

In  the  last  ten  years  of  the  century,  poke  bonnets 
and  Dunstable  hats  were  much  in  evidence,  and  with 
flowing  curls,  and  flowing  ribbons  tied  in  a  large  bow 
under  the  chin,  were  sometimes  not  unbecoming  to  a 
pretty  face. 

But  in  Jane's  lifetime  the  strangest  fashion,  that  ever 
caused   discomfort    to    a    whole    nation,  gradually    died 


DRESS  AND  FASHIONS  235 

down,  that  is  to  say  the  use  of  wigs.  Yet  that  they 
were  worn  so  late  as  1 8 1 4  is  shown  by  Jane's  remark  in 
one  of  the  letters.  "  My  brother  and  Edward  (his  son) 
arrived  last  night.  Their  business  is  about  teeth  and 
wigs." 

Nothing  quickened  the  departure  of  the  wig  so 
much  as  the  tax  put  on  hair  powder  by  Pitt  in  1785  ; 
people  argued  that  they  did  not  mind  the  money,  but 
they  thought  it  so  iniquitous  to  tax  powder  that  they 
left  off  wearing  powdered  wigs  to  spite  the  Government, 
and  probably,  once  having  discovered  the  comfort  of 
doing  without  these  hideous  evils,  they  would  never 
return  to  them.  Yet  that  the  wig,  even  in  its  heyday, 
was  not  universally  worn  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  King 
George  III.  himself  refused  to  wear  one.  The  king's 
"  hair,  which  is  very  thick,  and  of  the  finest  light  colour, 
tied  behind  with  a  ribband,  and  dressed  by  the  hand  of 
the  queen,  is  one  of  his  most  striking  ornaments.  Not- 
withstanding this,  the  peruke  makers  have  presented  an 
address  to  the  king,  requesting  His  Majesty  that,  for  the 
good  of  their  body  and  the  nation,  he  would  be  pleased 
to  wear  a  wig."     (Grosley.) 

No  one  has  given  a  better  account  of  the  wig  than 
Sir  Walter  Besant,  he  says :  "  The  wig  was  a  great 
leveller  .  .  .  with  the  wig  it  mattered  nothing  whether 
one  was  bald  or  not.  Again  the  wig  was  a  great  pro- 
tection for  the  head  ;  it  saved  the  wearer  from  the  effects 
of  cold  draughts ;  it  was  part  of  the  comfort  of  the  age 
like  the  sash  window  and  the  wainscoted  wall.  And  the 
wig,  too,  like  the  coat  and  the  waistcoat,  was  a  means  of 
showing  the  wealth  of  its  owner,  because  a  wig  of  the 
best  kind,  new,  properly  curled  and  combed,  cost  a  large 
sum  of  money.  Practically  it  was  indestructible,  and 
with  certain  alterations  descended.  First  it  was  left  by 
will  to  son  or  heir ;  next  it  was  given  to  the  coachman ; 


236  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

then,  with  alterations,  to  the  gardener ;  then  it  went  to 
the  second-hand  people  in  Monmouth  Street,  whence  it 
continued  a  downward  course  until  it  finally  entered 
upon  its  last  career  of  usefulness  in  the  shoeblack's  box. 
There  was  lastly  an  excellent  reason  why  in  the 
eighteenth  century  it  was  found  more  convenient  to  wear 
a  wig  than  the  natural  hair.  Those  of  the  lower  classes 
who  were  not  in  domestic  service  wore  their  own  hair. 
Their  heads  were  filled  with  vermin — these  vermin  were 
very  easily  caught — now  the  man  who  shaved  his  head 
and  wore  a  wig  was  free  of  this  danger."  {London  hi  the 
Eighteenth  Century^ 

We  know  that  Dr.  Johnson's  wigs  were  a  constant 
source  of  trouble,  for  they  were  not  only  dirty  and 
unkempt,  but  generally  burnt  away  in  the  front,  for  being 
very  nearsighted,  he  often  put  his  head  into  the  candle 
when  poring  over  his  books.  Whenever  he  was  staying 
with  the  Thrales  therefore  the  butler  used  to  waylay  him 
as  he  passed  in  to  dinner,  and  pull  off  the  wig  on  his 
head,  replacing  it  with  a  new  one. 

Ladies  rarely  appeared  without  head-dresses  of  some 
kind,  be  it  only  a  bow  or  an  ornamental  comb,  they 
seemed  to  think  that  a  woman  should  be  seen  with  her 
head  covered  in  every  place  as  well  as  in  church.  Near 
the  end  of  Cecilia  the  flighty  Lady  Honoria  cries, " '  Why 
you  know  sir  as  to  caps  and  wigs,  they  are  very  serious 
things,  for  we  should  look  mighty  droll  figures  to  go 
about  bareheaded,'"  which  shows  how  entirely  custom 
dictates  what  appears  "  mighty  droll "  or  quite  ordinary. 

Wigs  were  sometimes  the  cause  of  ludicrous  incidents, 
as  when  in  the  House  of  Commons  Lord  North  suddenly 
rising  from  his  seat  and  going  out  bore  off  on  the  hilt 
of  his  sword  the  wig  of  Welbore  Ellis  who  happened 
to  be  stooping  forward. 

Many  people,  when  wigs  began  to  go  out  of  fashion, 


DRESS  AND  FASHIONS  237 

powdered  their  own  hair,  and  of  this  Besant  gives  us 
also  an  unpleasant  but  speaking  picture :  "  Among  the 
minor  miseries  of  life  is  to  be  mentioned  the  slipping  and 
sliding  of  lumps  of  the  powder  and  pomatum  from  the 
head  down  to  the  plate  at  dinner." 

Even  boys  at  school  wore  queues.  Of  a  master  at 
Eton  it  is  said  that  his  management  of  the  boys,  excellent 
in  other  respects,  was  in  some  things  amiss,  for  "  he 
burnt  all  their  ruffles,  and  cut  off  their  queues." 

The  Times  of  April  14,  1795,  mentions  that:  "A 
numerous  club  has  been  formed  in  Lambeth  called  the 
Crop  Club,  every  member  of  which,  on  his  entrance,  is 
obliged  to  have  his  head  docked  as  close  as  the  Duke  of 
Bridgewater's  old  bay  coach  horses.  This  assemblage 
is  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  opposing,  or  rather  evad- 
ing, the  tax  on  powdered  heads." 

The  use  of  powder  is  mentioned  in  Jane  Austen's 
story  The  Watsons^  and  is  one  of  the  very  few  touches 
she  gives  that  carry  us  backward  in  time.  Mrs.  Robert 
Watson  is  speaking  to  her  sisters-in-law,  " '  I  would  not 
make  you  wait,'  said  she,  ^  so  I  put  on  the  first  thing  I 
met  with.  I  am  afraid  I  am  a  sad  figure.  My  dear  Mr. 
W.  (addressing  her  husband)  you  have  not  put  any  fresh 
powder  in  yoiir  hair.' 

" '  No,  I  do  not  intend  it,  I  think  there  is  powder 
enough  in  my  hair  for  my  wife  and  sisters.' 

" '  Indeed,  you  ought  to  make  some  alteration  in  your 
dress  before  dinner  when  you  are  out  visiting,  though  you 
do  not  at  home.' 

"  ^  Nonsense  ! ' 

"  Dinner  came,  and  except  when  Mrs.  Robert  looked 
at  her  husband's  head  she  continued  gay  and  flippant." 

Later,  when  Tom  Musgrave  arrives,  "  Robert  Watson, 
stealing  a  view  of  his  own  head  in  an  opposite  glass, 
said  with  equal  civility, '  You  cannot  be  more  in  deshabille 


238  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

than  myself.  We  got  here  so  late  that  I  had  not  time 
even  to  put  a  little  fresh  powder  in  my  hair.' " 

The  powders  used  were  very  various. 

"  And  now  we  are  upon  vanities,  what  do  you  think 
is  the  reigning  mode  as  to  powder  ?  only  tumerick,  that 
coarse  dye  that  stains  yellow.  It  falls  out  of  the  hair 
and  stains  the  skin  so,  that  every  pretty  lady  must  look 
as  yellow  as  a  crocus,  which  I  suppose  will  come  a 
better  compliment  than  as  white  as  a  lily,"  (Mrs. 
Papendick.) 

Flour  was  frequently  used  for  powdering  heads,  and 
in  1795  flour  was  very  scarce  and  enormously  valuable. 
In  the  same  year  when  the  powder  tax  was  passed,  the 
Privy  Council  "  implored  all  families  to  abjure  puddings 
and  pies,  and  declared  their  own  intention  to  have  only 
fish,  meat,  vegetables,  and  household  bread,  made  partly 
of  rye.  It  was  recommended  that  one  quartern  loaf  per 
head  per  week  should  be  a  maximum  allowance.  The 
loaf  was  to  be  brought  on  the  table  for  each  to  help 
himself,  that  none  be  wasted.  The  king  himself  had 
none  but  household  bread  on  his  table.  In  1801  the 
Government  offered  bounties  on  the  importation  of  all 
kinds  of  grain  and  flour,  and  passed  the  Brown  Bread 
Act  (1800)  forbidding  the  sale  of  wheaten  bread,  or  new 
bread  of  any  kind,  as  stale  bread  would  go  further  (Mary 
Bateson  in  Social  England).  This  scarcity  and  dearness 
of  bread  is  a  thing  never  felt  in  the  present  day,  when 
lumps  of  the  best  white  bread  are  flung  in  heaps  in  the 
squares  and  streets  of  London,  and  disdained  even  by 
tramps  and  beggars,  and  when  boys  in  the  North  Country 
go  round  with  sacks  begging  bits  of  bread  which  they 
afterwards  use  for  feeding  ponies  or  horses ! 

Many  epigrams  and  bon  mots  were  made  on  the  new 
powder  tax ;  a  tax  on  dogs  had  at  that  time  been 
generally  expected,  so  one  wit  wrote — 


DRESS  AND  FASHIONS  239 

"  Full  many  a  chance  or  dire  mishap, 
Ofttimes  'twixt  the  lip  and  the  cup  is ; 
The  tax  that  should  have  hung  our  dogs, 
Excuses  them,  and  falls  on  puppies." 

Of  the  inconveniences  attending  the  use  of  powder 
the  following  anecdote  is  an  instance — 

"  At  one  of  Lady  Crewe's  dinner  parties,  Grattan, 
after  talking  very  delightfully  for  some  time,  all  at 
once  seemed  disconcerted,  and  sunk  into  silence.  I 
asked  his  daughter,  who  was  sitting  next  to  me,  the 
reason  of  this.  ^  Oh,'  she  replied,  *  he  has  just  found 
out  that  he  has  come  here  in  his  powdering  coat.' " 
(Samuel  Rogers,  Table  Talk?) 

The  Act  claimed  one  guinea  a  year  from  every  user 
of  powder,  and  was  calculated  to  bring  in  about 
;^400,ooo  per  annum.  The  Royal  Family,  clergymen 
whose  incomes  were  under  a  hundred  pounds,  subalterns 
and  all  below  that  rank  in  the  army,  officers  in  the  navy 
under  the  rank  of  commander,  and  all  below  the  two 
eldest  unmarried  daughters  of  a  family  were  exempt. 

Walter  Savage  Landor  was  the  first  of  undergraduates 
at  Oxford  to  do  without  powder,  and  was  told  he  would 
be  stoned  for  a  republican. 

"The  regular  academic  costume,  so  late  as  1799, 
consisted  of  knee  breeches  of  any  colour,  and  white 
stockings.  The  sun  of  wigs  had  not  even  then  set ;  they 
covered  the  craniums  of  nearly  all  dons  and  heads  of 
houses.  The  gentlemen  wore  their  hair  tied  up  behind 
in  a  thin  loop  called  a  pigtail ;  footmen  wore  their  hair 
tied  up  behind  in  a  thick  loop  called  a  hoop."  (Sydney, 
England  and  the  English^ 

In  regard  to  the  rest  of  the  costume  of  ladies,  the 
most  noticeable  points  of  the  mode  were  the  high  waists 
and  long  flowing  skirts  clinging  tightly  to  the  figure. 
This,  if  not  carried  to  excess,  was  certainly  becoming, 


240  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

but  fashion  cannot  be  content  with  mediocrity,  it  must 
be  extravagant.  Consequently,  "  With  very  low  bodices 
and  very  high  waists,  came  very  scanty  clothing,  with 
an  absence  of  petticoat,  a  fashion  which  left  very  little 
of  the  form  to  the  imagination.  I  do  not  say  that 
our  English  belles  went  to  the  extent  of  some  of  their 
French  sisters,  of  having  their  muslin  dresses  put  on 
damp — and  holding  them  tight  to  their  figures  till  they 
dried — so  as  absolutely  to  mould  them  to  their  form  .... 
but  their  clothes  were  of  the  scantiest,  and  as  year 
succeeded  year,  this  fashion  developed,  if  one  can  call 
diminution  of  clothing  development."  (John  Ashton,  Old 
Times?) 

It  is  difficult  to  give  any  consecutive  account  of 
fashions  extending  over  such  a  long  period,  for  they 
varied  as  frequently  then  as  they  do  now,  however,  here 
are  a  few  notes. 

Coquelicot,  that  is  poppy  colour,  was  very  fashionable, 
Jane  as  we  have  seen  adopted  it ;  at  one  time  no 
lady's  dress  was  considered  complete  without  a  dash  of 
coquelicot  in  sash  or  trimmings. 

Jane  frequently  mentions  her  cloak ;  this  would  not 
be  what  ladies  call  a  cloak  now,  but  more  what  would 
be  described  as  a  fichu  or  tippet,  covering  the  shoulders 
and  having  long  ends  which  fell  like  a  stole  in  front, 
some  of  the  modern  fur  stoles  are  in  fact  made  very 
much  on  the  same  pattern  ;  no  lady's  wardrobe  seems 
to  have  been  complete  without  at  least  one  black  silk 
cloak  of  this  sort.  Dresses  were  cut  low  in  front,  either 
in  V  shape  or  curved,  and  even  in  winter  this  custom 
was  followed  ;  a  silk  handkerchief  was  sometimes  folded 
crosswise  over  the  opening,  but  very  generally,  though 
warmly  dressed  in  other  respects,  a  lady  had  her  neck 
quite  uncovered.  The  short  sleeves  which  went  with  low 
necks  necessitated  the  use  of  long  gloves,  which  reached 


DRESS  AND  FASHIONS  241 

above  the  elbow  and  were  tied  therewith  ribbon.  The 
high  waists  made  the  bodice  of  the  dress  so  small  that 
it  was  of  very  little  consequence,  and  sometimes  was 
formed  merely  by  a  folded  bit  of  material  like  a  fichu. 
This  was  covered  by  that  fashionable  and  characteristic 
garment,  the  pelisse.  It  was  not  considered  proper  for 
very  young  girls  to  wear  pelisses,  they  wore  cloaks,  but 
the  pelisse  did  not  really  differ  very  greatly  from  the 
cloak,  for  it  was  like  a  long  open  coat,  fitting  closely 
to  the  arm,  but  falling  straight  in  long  ends  from  the 
armholes,  thus  leaving  the  front  of  the  dress  exposed 
in  a  panel ;  later,  pelisses  became  more  voluminous  and 
completely  covered  the  dress,  fastening  in  front.  _] 

Mrs.  Papendick  says,  "  The  outdoor  equipment  in 
those  days,  when  pelisses  and  great-coats  of  woollen  were 
not  worn  by  girls,  was  a  black  cloak  of  a  silk  called 
*  mode,'  stiff,  glossy,  wadded,  armholes  with  a  sleeve  to 
the  wrist  from  them,  a  small  muff,  and  a  quaker-shaped 
bonnet  all  of  the  same  material." 

Huge  muffs  were  very  common,  and  this  is  one  of 
the  features  of  the  dress  of  that  date  which  is  generally 
remembered  because  of  its  singularity. 

The  small  girls  were  dressed  in  long  skirts  plainly 
made,  and  their  robes  must  have  precluded  any 
possibility  of  romping ;  the  short  skirts  and  long 
stockinged  legs  of  our  present  mode  would  have  made 
them  stare  indeed. 

As  for  the  materials  for  dresses,  they  were  of  course 
much  less  varied  than  the  inventions  of  printing  and 
machinery  allow  women  to  use  nowadays.  Plain 
muslins,  or  muslins  embroidered  at  the  edge,  were  most 
common,  though  there  were  other  materials  such  as  taffeta, 
sarsenet,  and  bombazine.  We  must  realise  also  that 
any  lace  used  in  trimming  must  have  been  real  lace, 
there  was  no  machine-made  stuff  at  2jd.  a  yard 
16 


242  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

with  which  every  servant  girl  could  deck  herself  as 
she  does  now.  India  muslins  were  extremely  popular, 
and  seemed  to  have  been  worn  quite  regardless  of  the 
climate,  which  according  to  accounts,  our  grandmothers 
notwithstanding,  does  not  seem  to  have  changed 
remarkably. 

When  Lady  Newdigate  was  at  Brighton  in  1797  she 
writes  to  her  husband :  "  Do  ask  of  your  female  croneys 
if  they  have  any  wants  in  the  muslin  way.  Nothing 
else  is  worn  in  gowns  by  any  rank  of  people,  but  I 
don't  know  that  I  can  get  them  cheaper  here,  but  great 
choice  there  is,  very  beautiful  and  real  India." 

In  January  1801,  Jane  writes  from  Steventon,  "I 
shall  want  two  new  coloured  gowns  for  the  summer, 
for  my  pink  one  will  not  do  more  than  clear  me  from 
Steventon.  I  shall  not  trouble  you,  however,  to  get 
more  than  one  of  them,  and  that  is  to  be  a  plain  brown 
cambric  muslin,  for  morning  wear;  the  other,  which  is 
to  be  a  very  pretty  yellow  and  white  cloud,  I  mean 
to  buy  in  Bath.  Buy  two  brown  ones,  if  you  please,  and 
both  of  a  length,  but  one  longer  than  the  other — it  is 
for  a  tall  woman.  Seven  yards  for  my  mother,  seven 
yards  and  a  half  for  me ;  a  dark  brown,  but  the  kind 
of  brown  is  left  to  your  own  choice,  and  I  had  rather 
they  were  different  as  it  will  be  always  something  to 
say,  to  dispute  about,  which  is  the  prettiest.  They 
must  be  cambric  muslin." 

Ten  years  later  muslins  are  still  fashionable.  "  I 
am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  I  am  getting  very  extravagant 
[she  was  at  this  time  in  London]  and  spending  all  my 
money,  and  what  is  worse  for  you,  I  have  been  spending 
all  yours  too ;  for  in  a  linendraper's  shop  to  which  I 
went  for  checked  muslin,  and  for  which  I  was  obliged 
to  give  seven  shillings  a  yard,  I  was  tempted  by  a 
pretty  coloured    muslin  and  bought  ten  yards  of  it  on 


DRESS  AND  FASHIONS  243 

the  chance  of  your  liking  it ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  if  it 
should  not  suit  you,  you  must  not  think  yourself  at  all 
obliged  to  take  it.  It  is  only  three  and  six  per  yard, 
and  I  should  not  in  the  least  mind  taking  the  whole. 
In  texture  it  is  just  what  we  prefer,  but  its  resemblance 
to  green  crewels  I  must  own  is  not  great,  for  the  pattern 
is  a  small  red  spot." 

That  silly  and  affected  nomenclature  for  the  dress 
fabrics  was  in  use  then  as  it  is  still,  is  apparent 
from  Hannah  More's  remark,  "  One  lady  asked  what 
was  the  newest  colour ;  the  other  answered  that  the 
most  truly  fashionable  silk  was  a  soupqon  de  vert^  lined 
with  a  soupir  etouffee  et  bradee  de  Vesperance ;  now  you 
must  not  consult  your  old-fashioned  dictionary  for  the 
word  esp^rance  for  you  will  there  find  that  it  means 
nothing  but  hope,  whereas  esp^rance  in  the  new  language 
of  the  time  means  rose-buds." 

The  most  particular  description  of  a  dress  Jane  ever 
gives  is  almost  minute  enough  to  be  followed  by  a 
dressmaker  :  "  It  is  to  be  a  round  gown,  with  a  jacket  and 
a  frock  front,  to  open  at  the  side.  The  jacket  is  all  in 
one  with  the  body,  and  comes  as  far  as  the  pocket  holes 
— about  half  a  quarter  of  a  yard  deep,  I  suppose,  all  the 
way  round,  cut  off  straight  at  the  corners  with  a  broad 
hem.  No  fulness  appears  either  in  the  body  or  the  flap, 
the  back  is  quite  plain — and  the  side  equally  so.  The 
front  is  sloped  round  to  the  bosom  and  drawn  in,  and 
there  is  to  be  a  frill  of  the  same  to  put  on  occasionally 
when  all  one's  handkerchiefs  are  dirty,  which  frill  must 
fall  back.  She  is  to  put  two  breadths  and  a  half  in  the 
tail,  and  no  gores — gores  not  being  so  much  worn  as 
they  were.  There  is  nothing  new  in  the  sleeves ;  they 
are  to  be  plain,  with  a  fulness  of  the  same  falling  down 
and  gathered  up  underneath.  Low  in  the  back  behind, 
and  a  belt  of  the  same." 


244  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

It  is  of  course  most  obvious  that  the  ludicrous  fashions 
and  enormous  erections,  which  were  carried  by  the 
leaders  of  fashion,  did  not  affect  quiet  country  girls ;  just 
as  in  our  own  time  the  distorted  sleeves  or  ever-changing 
skirts,  and  all  the  vagaries  of  the  smart  set,  are  known 
and  seen  by  hundreds  who  daily  go  about  in  perfectly 
simple  clothes  which  yet  can  not  be  called  unfashionable 
because  they  conform  in  main  points  to  the  dictates  of 
the  fashion  of  the  moment  without  going  to  excess. 

Two  more  characteristic  quotations  from  the  letters 
must  be  given — 

"  How  do  you  like  your  flounce  ?  We  have  seen 
only  plain  flounces.  I  hope  you  have  not  cut  off  the 
train  of  your  bombazine.  I  cannot  reconcile  myself  to 
giving  them  up  as  morning  gowns ;  they  are  so  very 
sweet  by  candlelight.  I  would  rather  sacrifice  my  blue 
one  for  that  purpose  ;  in  short  I  do  not  know,  and  I  do 
not  care,"  and  in  the  following  year,  "  I  have  determined 
to  trim  my  lilac  sarsenet  with  lilac  satin  ribbon  just  as 
my  chine  crape  is.  Sixpenny  width  at  bottom,  three- 
penny or  fourpenny  at  top.  Ribbon  trimmings  are  all 
the  fashion  at  Bath.  With  this  addition  it  will  be  a 
very  useful  gown,  happy  to  go  anywhere." 

In  one  small  point  the  lady  of  the  eighteenth  century 
resembled  her  successor  of  to-day. 

The  Times  of  November  9,  1799,  notes :  "  What 
is  still  more  remarkable  is  the  total  abjuration  of  the 
female  pocket  .  .  .  every  fashionable  fair  carries  her 
purse  in  her  workbag,  and  she  has  the  pleasure  of  laying 
everything  that  belongs  to  her  upon  the  table  wherever 
she  goes." 

Hoops  were  worn  in  Court  dress  long  after  they 
were  abandoned  elsewhere,  someone  describes  them  as 
the  "  excrescences  and  balconies  with  which  modern 
hoydens  overwhelm  and  barricade  their  persons."     Apart 


DRESS  AND  FASHIONS  245 

from  this  survival  at  Court,  dress  was  generally  long  and 
clinging. 

At  one  of  the  Drawing  Rooms  of  1796  crape  was 
all  the  fashion ;  Princess  Augusta  was  dressed  in  "  a 
rich  gold  embroidered  crape  petticoat  in  leaves  across, 
intersected  with  blue  painted  foil  in  shaded  spots,  having 
the  appearance  of  stripes  from  top  to  bottom ;  orna- 
mented with  a  rich  embroidered  border  in  festoons  of 
blue  shaded  satin  and  gold  spangles.  Pocket  holes 
ornamented  with  broad  gold  lace,  and  blue  embroidered 
satin  bows ;  white  and  gold  body  and  train."  There  are 
many  other  costumes  described  at  the  same  Drawing 
Room,  from  which  we  gather  that  the  hair  was  dressed 
very  full  and  high,  and  quite  off  the  ears,  and  that 
bandeaus  of  gold  or  silver  lace,  or  black  velvet  embroid- 
ered with  gold,  were  run  through  it.  Gold  and  silver 
artificial  flowers  were  also  very  commonly  worn,  and 
some  ladies  had  plumes.  There  were  also  a  few 
caps.  "  The  ladies  all  wore  full  dress  neckerchiefs  with 
point  lace,  sufficiently  open  to  display  irresistible 
charms." 

Men's  dress  of  the  same  period  was  most  magnificent, 
and  perhaps  the  feature  of  it  that  would  strike  one  most 
in  contrast  with  modern  fashions,  would  be  its  variety 
of  colour ;  coats  and  waistcoats  were  always  coloured, 
black  was  only  donned  for  mourning.  Gold  and  silver 
lace  and  figured  brocades,  with  lace  cuffs  and  ruffles, 
were  essential  to  a  beau.  Horace  Walpole  notes  at 
the  wedding  of  a  nephew  that,  except  for  himself, 
there  wasn't  a  bit  of  gold  lace  anywhere  in  the  dress 
of  the  men,  and  he  considered  it  altogether  as  a  very 
poor  affair. 

A  fairly  good  idea  of  the  different  degrees  of  plain- 
ness and  ornament  in  the  clothes  worn  by  gentlemen 
may  be  gathered  from  Reynold's  portrait  group  of  Inigo 


246  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Jones,   Hon.   H.  Fane,  and  C.  Blair  which  was  done  at 
this  time. 

The  following  is  the  wordrobe  of  a  fashionable  man 
of  the  time.     "  My  wardrobe  consisted  of  five  fashionable 
coats  full  mounted,  two  of  which  were  plain,  one  of  cut 
velvet,  one  trimmed  with  gold,  and  another  with  silver 
lace ;  two  frocks,  one  of  which  was  drab  with  large  plate 
buttons,  the  other  of  blue  with  gold  binding ;  one  waist- 
coat of  gold  brocade,  one  of  blue  satin,  embroidered  with 
silver,  one  of  green  silk  trimmed  with  broad  figured  gold 
lace ;  one  of  black  silk  with  fringes ;  one  of  white  satin, 
one  of  black  cloth  and  one  of  scarlet ;  six  pairs  of  cloth 
breeches,   one    pair    of   crimson,  and    another    of  black 
velvet ;  twelve  pair  of  white  silk  stockings,  as  many  of 
black  silk,  and  the  same  number  of  fine  cotton ;  one  hat 
laced   with   gold   Point   d'Espagne ;  another   with   silver 
lace  scalloped,  a  third  gold  binding,  and  a  fourth  plain  ; 
three  dozen  of  fine  ruffled  shirts,  as  many  neckcloths  ; 
one  dozen  of  cambric  handkerchiefs,  and  the  like  number 
of  silk.     A  gold  watch  with  a  chased  case  [it  was  the 
fashion    to   wear   two  watches   at   one   time  during  the 
century],    two     valuable    diamond    rings,    two    morning 
swords,  one  with  a  silver  handle,  and  a  fourth  cut  steel 
inlaid  with  gold ;  a  diamond  stock  buckle  and  a  set  of 
stone  buckles  for  the  knees  and  shoes ;  a  pair  of  silver 
mounted  pistols  with  rich  housings ;  a  gold  headed  cane, 
and   a   snuff  box    of  tortoiseshell,    mounted   with   gold, 
having  the  picture  of  a  lady  on  the  top." 

In  The  New  Guide  already  quoted,  the  following 
account  is  put  into  the  mouth  of  a  young  gentleman  of 
fashion : — 

"  I  ride  in  a  chair  with  my  hands  in  a  muff, 
And  have  bought  a  silk  coat  and  embroidered  the  cuff. 
But  the  weather  was  cold,  and  the  coat  it  was  thin, 
So  the  tailor  advised  me  to  line  it  with  skin. 


DRESS  AND  FASHIONS  247 

But  what  with  my  Nivernois  hat  can  compare, 
Bag- wig,  and  laced  ruffles,  and  black  solitaire? 
And  what  can  a  man  of  true  fashion  denote, 
Like  an  ell  of  good  ribbon  tied  under  the  throat  ? 
My  buckles  and  box  are  in  exquisite  taste. 
The  one  is  of  paper,  the  other  of  paste." 

Fox,  when  a  very  young  man,  was  a  prodigious 
dandy,  wearing  a  little  odd  French  hat,  shoes  with  red 
heels,  etc.  He  and  Lord  Carlisle  once  travelled  from 
Paris  to  Lyons  for  the  express  purpose  of  buying  waist- 
coats ;  and  during  the  whole  journey  they  talked  about 
nothing  else.     (S.  Rogers,  Table  Talk.) 

Jane  Austen's  brother  Edward  would  dress,  as 
befitted  his  position,  with  greater  variety  of  colour  and 
style  than  his  clergyman  father  and  brother.  It  was 
the  usual  thing  for  a  clergyman  to  dress  in  black,  with 
knee-breeches  and  white  stock,  but  it  was  not  essential. 
In  Northanger  Abbey  when  Henry  Tilney  is  first  intro- 
duced to  Catherine  in  the  Lower  Rooms  at  Bath,  there 
is  nothing  in  his  attire  to  indicate  that  he  is  a  clergyman, 
a  fact  which  she  only  learns  subsequently. 

In  ordinary  civilian  dress,  men  wore  long  green,  blue, 
or  brown  cloth  coats  with  stocks  and  frilled  ruffles.  In 
the  Man  of  Feeling  a  man  casually  met  with  is  wearing 
"a  brownish  coat  with  a  narrov/  gold  edging,  and  his 
companion  an  old  green  frock  with  a  buff  coloured  waist- 
coat," while  an  ex-footman  trying  to  play  the  gentleman 
has  on  "  a  white  frock  and  a  red  laced  waistcoat." 

At  that  time  footgear  for  men  consisted  of  slippers 
in  the  house,  and  riding-boots  for  out  of  doors.  When 
Beau  Nash  was  forming  the  assemblies  at  Bath,  as  has 
been  said  he  made  a  dead  set  against  the  habit  some 
men  had  of  wearing  boots  in  the  dancing-room.  "  The 
gentlemen's  boots  also  made  a  very  desperate  stand 
against  him,  the  country  squires  were  by  no  means  sub- 


248  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

missive  to  his  usurpations,  and  probably  his  authority 
alone  would  never  have  carried  him  through,  had  he 
not  reinforced  it  with  ridicule."  His  ridicule  took  the 
form  of  a  squib,  one  verse  of  which  was  as  follows : — 

*•  Come  Trollops  and  Slatterns, 
Cockt  hats  and  white  aprons, 
This  best  our  modesty  suits ; 
'  For  why  should  not  we 
In  dress  be  as  free 

As  Hogs-Norton  squires  in  boots." 

"  The  keenness,  severity,  and  particularly  the  good 
rhymes  of  this  little  morceau  which  was  at  that  time 
highly  relished  by  many  of  the  nobility  at  Bath,  gained 
him  a  temporary  triumph.  But  to  push  his  victories 
he  got  up  a  puppet  show,  in  which  Punch  came  in, 
booted  and  spurred  in  the  character  of  a  country  squire. 
When  told  to  pull  off  his  boots  he  replies : — *  Why, 
madam,  you  may  as  well  bid  me  pull  off  my  legs.  I 
never  go  without  boots,  I  never  ride,  I  never  dance 
without  them  ;  and  this  piece  of  politeness  is  quite  the 
thing  in  Bath.  We  always  dance  at  our  town  in  boots, 
and  the  ladies  often  move  minuets  in  riding  boots.* 
From  this  time  few  ventured  to  appear  at  the  assemblies 
in  Bath  in  riding  dress."     {Life  of  Nash,  ^7 7 '2-) 


CHAPTER   XIV 
AT   SOUTHAMPTON 

FOR  two  and  a  half  years,  that  is  to  say  from 
May  1 80 1  to  September  1804,  we  do  not  hear 
any  more  of  Jane  Austen  from  her  own  correspondence. 
Then,  while  she  was  staying  at  Lyme,  she  sent  a  letter 
to  her  sister  which  is  given  in  Mr.  Austen-Leigh's 
Memoir,  It  will  be  remembered  that  part  of  the  scene 
in  Persuasion  takes  place  at  Lyme,  where  the  principal 
characters  are  transported,  and  where  Louisa  Musgrove 
meets  with  her  accident.  Captain  Wentworth's  friend. 
Captain  Harville,  had  settled  there  for  the  winter,  and 
wrote  such  a  glowing  account  of  the  fine  country  around 
that  "  the  young  people  were  all  wild  to  see  Lyme." 
The  party  that  finally  went  were  the  heroine,  Anne 
Elliot  herself,  her  brother  and  sister-in-law,  her  two 
friends,  Henrietta  and  Louisa  Musgrove,  and  her 
quondam  lover.  Captain  VVentworth,  who  was  at  this 
time  paying  rather  more  attention  to  Louisa  Musgrove 
than  could  be  borne  with  easiness  by  poor  Anne,  who 
had  realised  the  dreadful  mistake  she  had  made  in  giving 
him  up  seven  years  before.  "  They  were  come  too  late 
in  the  year  for  any  amusement  or  variety  which  Lyme, 
as  a  public  place  might  offer;  the  rooms  were  shut  up, 
the  lodgers  almost  gone,  scarcely  any  family  but  the 
residents  left — and  as  there  is  nothing  to  admire  in  the 
buildings   themselves,   the    remarkable    situation    of   the 

249 


250  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

town,  the  principal  street  almost  hurrying  into  the  water, 
the  walk  to  the  Cobb,  skirting  round  the  pleasant  little 
bay,  which  in  the  season  is  animated  with  bathing 
machines  and  company ;  the  Cobb  itself,  its  old  w^onders 
and  new  improvements,  with  the  very  beautiful  line  of 
cliffs  stretching  out  to  the  east  of  the  town,  are  what 
the  stranger's  eye  will  seek  ;  and  a  very  strange  stranger 
it  must  be  who  does  not  see  charms  in  the  immediate 
environs  of  Lyme  to  make  him  wish  to  know  it  better. 
The  scenes  in  its  neighbourhood,  Charmouth,  with  its 
high  grounds  and  extensive  sweeps  of  country,  and  still 
more  its  sweet  retired  bay,  backed  by  dark  cliffs,  where 
fragments  of  low  rock  among  the  sands  make  it  the 
happiest  spot  for  watching  the  flow  of  the  tide,  for 
sitting  in  unwearied  contemplation  ;  the  woody  varieties 
of  the  cheerful  vista  of  Up  Lyme ;  and,  above  all.  Pinny, 
with  its  green  chasms  between  romantic  rocks,  where  the 
scattered  forest  trees  and  orchards  of  luxuriant  growth 
declare  that  many  a  generation  must  have  passed  away 
since  the  first  partial  falling  of  the  cliff  prepared  the 
ground  for  such  a  state,  where  a  scene  so  wonderful  and 
so  lovely  is  exhibited,  as  may  more  than  equal  any  of 
the  resembling  scenes  of  the  far-famed  Isle  of  Wight ; 
these  places  must  be  visited,  and  visited  again,  to  make 
the  worth  of  Lyme  understood." 

It  is  wonderful  that  Jane  should  have  remembered 
in  such  detail  a  place  which  she  had  apparently  only 
seen  on  one  visit,  and  that  many  years  before  she  wrote 
the  book  in  which  the  description  is  embodied,  but  it 
is  not  unlikely  that,  as  the  instinct  of  word-painting  was 
strong  within  her,  she  wrote  down  some  such  account 
on  the  spot,  and  had  it  for  reference  afterwards. 

Louisa's  wilfulness  in  leaping  down  the  steps  of  the 
Cobb,  and  her  subsequent  accident,  at  which  Captain 
Wentworth  deceives   Anne  further  as  to  the  real  state 


AT  SOUTHAMPTON  251 

of  his   feelings   by   displaying   much   poignant  and   un- 
necessary grief,  form  the  chief  episode  in  the  book. 

While  at  Lyme  herself,  Jane  took  part  in  the  usual 
amusements ;  she  went  to  a  dance  and  was  escorted 
back  by  "  James  and  a  lanthorn,  though  I  believe  the 
lanthorn  was  not  lit  as  the  moon  was  up."  She  walked 
on  the  Cobb,  and  bathed  in  the  morning,  also  she  looked 
after  the  housekeeping  for  her  father  and  mother,  who 
were  with  her  in  lodgings. 

This  was  in  September.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
following  year  her  father  died,  but  there  is  no  letter  yet 
published  from  which  we  can  judge  any  of  the  details  or 
the  state  of  her  feelings  at  this  great  loss. 

In  the  April  after  this  event  there  are  two  letters, 
given  by  Mr.  Austen-Leigh,  written  from  Gay  Street, 
Bath,  in  which  no  allusion  is  made  to  her  father's  death. 
She  and  her  mother  were  then  in  lodgings.  It  was  at 
the  end  of  this  year  that  they  moved  to  Southampton. 

Jane's  pen  had  not  been  altogether  idle  while  at 
Bath,  for  it  is  supposed  that  she  there  wrote  the  fragment 
The  Watsons  which  is  embodied  in  Mr.  Austen-Leigh's 
Memoir, 

It  must  also  have  been  at  this  time  that  the  MS. 
of  Northanger  Abbey  was  offered  to  the  Bath  book- 
seller, a  transaction  which  is  described  elsewhere. 

Before  leaving  Bath  Jane  went  to  stay  with  her 
brother,  Edward  Knight,  at  Godmersham  ;  this  was  in 
August  of  the  same  year,  1805. 

Godmersham,  to  which  the  Austen  girls  so  often 
went  on  visits,  is  thus  described  by  Lord  Brabourne, 
who  certainly  had  every  right  to  know — 

"  Godmersham  Park  is  situated  in  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  parts  of  Kent,  namely,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Stour,  which  lies  between  Ashford  and  Canterbury. 
Soon    after    you  pass  the  Wye  station  of   the    railway 


252  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

from  the  former  to  the  latter  place,  you  see  Godmersham 
church  on  your  left  hand,  and  just  beyond  it,  comes 
into  view  the  wall  which  shuts  off  the  shrubberies  and 
pleasure  grounds  of  the  great  house  from  the  road  ;  close 
to  the  church  nestles  the  home  farm,  and  beyond  it  the 
rectory,  with  lawn  sloping  down  to  the  river  Stour, 
which  for  a  distance  of  nearly  a  mile  runs  through  the 
east  end  of  the  park.  A  little  beyond  the  church  you 
see  the  mansion,  between  which  and  the  railroad  lies 
the  village,  divided  by  the  old  high  road  from  Ashford 
to  Canterbury,  nearly  opposite  Godmersham.  The 
valley  of  the  Stour  makes  a  break  in  that  ridge  of  chalk 
hills,  the  proper  name  of  which  is  the  Backbone  of  Kent. 

"  So  that  Godmersham  Park,  beyond  the  house,  is 
upon  the  chalk  downs,  and  on  its  further  side  is  bounded 
by  King's  Wood,  a  large  tract  of  woodland  containing 
many  hundred  acres  and  possessed  by  several  different 
owners." 

The  children  of  Edward  and  Elizabeth  were  now 
growing  up.  The  eldest  boy,  Edward,  was  delicate, 
and  there  was  some  talk  of  taking  him  to  Worthing 
instead  of  sending  him  back  to  school ;  however,  he 
apparently  grew  stronger,  for  he  returned  to  school 
again  with  his  brother  George.  The  next  two  boys 
were  Henry  and  William ;  Jane  says,  she  has  been 
playing  battledore  and  shuttlecock  with  the  younger 
of  the  two,  "  he  and  I  have  practised  together  two 
mornings,  and  improve  a  little ;  we  have  frequently 
kept  it  up  three  times,  and  once  or  twice  six." 

The  eldest  girl,  Fanny,  had  become  almost  as  dear 
as  a  sister  to  her  aunt,  and  the  next,  Elizabeth,  are  also 
mentioned  in  the  letters ;  there  were  besides  these 
younger  children,  two  more  boys  and  three  girls,  a 
fine  family ! 

Before    coming    to    Godmersham   Jane    had    stayed 


AT  SOUTHAMPTON  253 

at  Eastwell,  where  George  Hatton  and  his  wife  Lady 
Elizabeth  lived ;  their  eldest  son  succeeded  later  to 
the  title  of  ninth  Earl  of  Winchilsea;  Jane  mentions 
this  lad  as  a  "  fine  boy,"  but  was  chiefly  delighted 
with  his  younger  brother  Daniel,  who  afterwards  married 
a  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick.  At  the  time  she 
wrote  this  letter,  Cassandra  was  at  Goodnestone  with 
the  Bridges.  The  two  sisters  soon  after  changed  places, 
crossing  on  the  journey,  as  Jane  went  to  Goodnestone 
and  Cassandra  to  Godmersham  ;  owing  to  the  difficulty 
of  carriage  transit,  journeys  must  frequently  have  been 
arranged  thus  to  save  the  horses  double  work. 

Jane  in  writing  from  Goodnestone  alludes  much  to 
the  two  Bridges  girls,  Harriet  and  her  delicate  sister 
Marianne. 

There  was  to  be  a  great  ball  at  Deal  for  which 
Harriet  Bridges  received  a  ticket,  and  an  invitation  to 
stay  at  Dover,  but  this  was  suddenly  put  off  on  account 
of  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  brother  of  George 
III.  Jane  opined  that  everybody  would  go  into 
mourning  on  his  account.  Mourning  was  of  course 
much  more  generally  used  then  than  now,  and  everyone 
seems  to  have  rushed  into  it  whether  they  belonged  to 
the  Court  or  not  on  the  death  of  any  member  of  the 
Royal  Family. 

During  the  four  years  that  had  passed  since  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  Europe  had  been  in  a 
continual  turmoil,  a  turmoil  that  could  never  cease 
while  Napoleon  was  at  liberty.  The  Battle  of  Alexandria 
in  the  first  year  of  the  new  century  had  taught  him 
that  the  English  were  as  formidable  on  land  as  on  sea, 
and  the  Battle  of  the  Baltic  in  the  following  month, 
further  convinced  him  that  there  was  one  unconquered 
nation  that  dared  oppose  him.  He  recognised,  however, 
that  while  he  could  not  but  acknowledge  the  superiority 


254  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

of  Britain  on  the  sea,  and  in  places  accessible  by  sea, 
he  could  do  much  as  he  pleased  on  the  Continent,  there- 
fore a  compromise  was  arrived  at,  and  on  March  27, 
1802,  the  Treaty  of  Amiens  was  signed,  and  for  the 
first  time  for  many  years  the  strain  of  war  was  relaxed 
in  Great  Britain. 

The  arrogance  of  Napoleon,  however,  made  a 
continuous  peace  impossible,  and  by  the  spring  of  the 
next  year  (1803)  the  two  nations  were  again  ready  to 
spring  at  each  other's  throats.  Napoleon  seized  and 
detained  10,000  British  travellers  who  were  in  France, 
and  this  provoked  fury  in  Great  Britain.  Great  prepara- 
tions were  now  once  more  made  in  France  for  the  long- 
cherished  project  of  the  invasion  of  England,  where  in 
a  few  weeks  300,000  volunteers  were  enrolled.  The 
national  excitement  was  tremendous,  and  Jane  must 
have  heard  at  least  as  much  about  the  preparations  for 
war,  and  the  dangers  of  invasion,  even  in  the  frivolous 
society  of  Bath,  as  about  dress  and  trivial  society  details. 

In  May  1 804,  Napoleon  threw  aside  all  disguise, 
and  had  himself  proclaimed  Emperor  of  the  French, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  same  year  Spain,  having  thrown 
in  her  lot  with  France,  declared  war  also  against 
England.  The  whole  of  1805  must  have  been  one 
of  tense  excitement  to  everyone  with  a  brain  to  under- 
stand. The  future  of  England  trembled  in  the  balance, 
yet  Jane's  pleasant  letters  from  Godmersham  deal  in 
nothing  but  domestic  detail  and  small  talk,  not  one 
allusion  is  there  to  the  throes  which  threatened  to  rend 
the  national  existence. 

In  the  autumn  of  1805  both  the  sisters  had  returned 
to  their  mother,  who  in  their  absence  had  had  the  com- 
panionship of  Martha  Lloyd.  Then  came  the  removal 
to  Southampton,  where  they  went  to  "  a  commodious  old- 
fashioned  house  in  a  corner  of  Castle  Square." 


AT  SOUTHAMPTON  255 

Mr.  Austen-Leigh,  writing  from  recollection,  says : 
"  My  grandmother's  house  had  a  pleasant  garden 
bounded  on  one  side  by  the  old  city  walls ;  the  top  of 
this  wall  was  sufficiently  wide  to  afford  a  pleasant  walk, 
with  an  extensive  view,  easily  accessible  to  ladies  by 
steps.  ...  At  that  time  Castle  Square  was  occupied 
by  a  fantastic  edifice,  too  large  for  the  space  in  which 
it  stood,  though  too  small  to  accord  well  with  its 
castellated  style,  erected  by  the  second  Marquess  of 
Lansdowne,  half-brother  to  the  well-known  statesman 
who  succeeded  him  in  the  title.  The  marchioness  had 
a  light  phaeton  drawn  by  six,  and  sometimes  by  eight 
little  ponies,  each  pair  decreasing  in  size  and  becoming 
lighter  in  colour.  ...  It  was  a  delight  to  me  to  look 
down  from  the  window  and  see  this  fairy  equipage  put 
together,  for  the  premises  of  the  castle  were  so  contracted 
that  the  whole  process  went  on  in  the  little  space  that 
remained  of  the  open  square.  .  .  .  On  the  death  of  the 
Marquess  in  1 809  the  castle  was  pulled  down.  Few 
probably  remember  its  existence ;  and  anyone  who 
might  visit  the  place  now  would  wonder  how  it  ever 
could  have  stood  there." 

Mrs.  Austen  was  not  well  off,  for  her  husband  had 
had  no  private  means  and  she  herself  but  little,  yet 
her  son  Edward  was  well  able  to  help  her,  for  Chawton 
alone  is  said  to  have  been  worth  ;^5ooo  a  year.  There 
was  also  money  in  the  family,  for  Jane  some  years 
later  speaks  of  her  eldest  brother's  income  being  ^i  100 
a  year.  She  and  her  sister  must  have  had  some  little 
allowance  also,  as  it  was  with  her  own  money  that  she 
paid  for  the  publication  of  the  first  of  her  books.  Simply 
as  she  had  always  lived,  she  does  not  seem  to  have  had 
small  ideas  on  the  subject,  the  couples  in  her  books 
require  about  two  thousand  a  year  before  they  can  be 
considered  prosperous,  and  incomes  of  from  five  thousand 


256  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

to  ten  thousand  pounds  are  not  rare.  She  makes  one 
of  the  characters  in  Mansfield  Park  remark,  on  hearing 
that  Mr.  Crawford  has  four  thousand  pounds  a  year, 
" '  Those  who  have  not  more  must  be  satisfied  with  what 
they  have.     Four  thousand  a  year  is  a  pretty  estate.'  " 

There  was  apparently  some  question  raised  by  her 
relations  about  the  income  bestowed  by  Jane  upon  the 
mother  and  daughters  in  Mansfield  Park^  namely,  five 
hundred  pounds  a  year.  But  having  regard  to  all  the 
circumstances,  the  style  to  which  they  were  accustomed, 
and  Mrs.  Dashwood's  inability  to  economise,  this  could 
perhaps  hardly  have  been  made  less. 

We  hear  at  the  close  of  one  year  at  Southampton 
that  Mrs.  Austen  is  pleased  "  at  the  comfortable  state  of 
her  own  finances,  which  she  finds  on  closing  her  year's 
accounts,  beyond  her  expectation,  as  she  begins  the  new 
year  with  a  balance  of  thirty  pounds  in  her  favour." 

And  afterwards, "  My  mother  is  afraid  I  have  not  been 
explicit  enough  on  the  subject  of  her  wealth ;  she  began 
1806  with  sixty-eight  pounds;  she  begins  1807  with 
ninety-nine  pounds,  and  this  after  thirty-two  pounds 
purchase  of  stock." 

In  this  year,  1805,  the  income  tax  was  increased 
from  6\  per  cent,  to  10  per  cent,  on  account  of  the 
tremendous  war  expenditure. 

At  this  time  an  amicable  arrangement  had  been 
arrived  at,  by  which  Frank  Austen  and  his  wife  shared 
the  house  of  the  mother  and  sisters  at  Southampton, 
Frank  himself  being  of  course  frequently  away.  His  first 
wife,  Mary  Gibson,  whom  he  had  only  recently  married, 
lived  until  1823  ;  and  is  referred  to  by  her  sister-in-law 
as  "  Mrs.  F.  A.,"  doubtless  to  distinguish  her  from  the 
other  Mary,  James's  wife.  Martha  Lloyd,  whom  Frank 
married  as  his  second  wife,  long,  long  after,  seems  to  have 
been  such  a  favourite  with  the  family  that  she  practically 


AT  SOUTHAMPTON  257 

lived  with  the  Austens  at  Southampton,  as  her  own 
mother  had  died  some  years  before. 

The  country  round  Southampton  is  pretty,  and  the 
town  itself  pleasant ;  we  have  a  contemporary  description 
of  it  in  1792.  "Southampton  is  one  of  the  most  neat 
and  pleasant  towns  I  ever  saw  .  .  .  was  once  walled 
round,  many  large  stones  of  which  are  now  remaining. 
There  were  four  gates,  only  three  now.  It  consists 
chiefly  of  one  long  fine  street  of  three  quarters  of  a  mile 
in  length,  called  the  High  Street.  .  .  .  The  Polygon  (not 
far  distant)  could  the  original  plan  have  been  completed, 
'tis  said,  would  have  been  one  of  the  first  places  in  the 
kingdom.  ...  At  the  extremity  a  capital  building  was 
erected  with  two  detached  wings,  and  colonnades.  The 
centre  was  an  elegant  tavern,  with  assembly,  card  rooms, 
etc.,  and  at  each  wing,  hotels  to  accommodate  the  nobility 
and  gentry.  The  tavern  is  taken  down,  but  the  wings 
converted  into  genteel  houses."      (Mrs.  Lybbe  Povvys.) 

There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  record  of  the  first 
year  spent  here,  there  are  no  letters  preserved,  and  we 
know  that  Jane  wrote  no  more  novels.  Household  affairs 
and  altering  clothes  according  to  the  mode  must  have 
filled  up  days  too  pleasantly  monotonous  to  have  any- 
thing worth  recording.  Southampton  evidently  did 
not  inspire  her,  for  it  figures  in  none  of  her  books, 
though  its  neighbour,  Portsmouth,  is  described  as  the 
home  of  Fanny  Price  in  Mansfield  Park. 

Yet  in  October  1805,  just  at  the  time  Jane  was 
settling  into  her  new  home,  was  fought  the  Battle  of 
Trafalgar,  which  smashed  the  allied  fleets  of  Spain  and 
France,  and  freed  Britain  from  any  fear  of  invasion.  As 
it  was  a  naval  battle,  we  can  imagine  for  the  sake  of  her 
brothers  she  must  have  thrilled  at  the  tremendous  news, 
which  would  arrive  as  fast  as  a  sailing  ship  could  bring  it 
— probably  a  day  or  two  after  the  action, 

17 


258  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

In  January  1807,  Cassandra  was  again  at  Godmer- 
sham,  and  Jane  writes  her  several  letters  full  of  family 
detail  as  usual. 

James  Austen  had  then  been  staying  at  Southampton 
with  his  wife ;  perhaps  they  had  brought  with  them  the 
little  son  who  looked  out  of  the  window  at  the  fairy 
carriage  and  the  ponies ;  as  he  was  born  in  November 
1798  he  would  be  between  eight  and  nine  years  old. 
His  little  sister  Caroline  certainly  was  there,  for  she  is 
mentioned  by  name. 

In  speaking  of  a  book  Jane  draws  a  distinction 
between  her  two  sisters-in-law,  "  Mrs.  F.  A.,  to  whom  it 
is  new,  enjoys  it  as  one  could  wish,  the  other  Mary,  I 
believe,  has  little  pleasure  from  that  or  any  other 
book." 

The  garden  at  Southampton  was  evidently  the  cause 
of  much  enjoyment.  "  We  hear  that  we  are  envied  our 
house  by  many  people,  and  that  our  garden  is  the  best  in 
the  town." 

"  Our  garden  is  putting  in  good  order  by  a  man  who 
bears  a  remarkably  good  character,  has  a  very  fine  com- 
plexion, and  asks  something  less  than  the  first.  The 
shrubs  which  border  the  gravel  walk  he  says  are  only 
sweet  briar  and  roses,  and  the  latter  of  an  indifferent 
sort ;  we  mean  to  get  a  few  of  a  better  kind  therefore, 
and  at  my  own  particular  desire  he  procures  us  some 
syringas.  I  could  not  do  without  a  syringa,  for  the  sake 
of  Cowper's  line.  We  talk  also  of  a  laburnum.  The 
border  under  the  terrace  wall  is  clearing  away  to  receive 
currants  and  gooseberry  bushes,  and  a  spot  is  found  very 
proper  for  raspberries." 

In  this  extract  the  odd  use  of  the  active  for  the 
passive  tense,  in  fashion  in  the  eighteenth  century,  jars 
on  modern  ears,  these  and  similar  constructions,  used 
throughout  the  novels,  have  had  something  to  do  with 


AT  SOUTHAMPTON  259 

the  opinions  of  those  people  who  have  dismissed  these 
brilliant  works  as  "  vulgar." 

Terrific  fighting  continued  on  the  Continent,  and  in 
December  the  prestige  of  Napoleon  was  enhanced  on  the 
stubborn  field  of  Austerlitz.  In  the  beginning  of  1806, 
England  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  by  death  the  great 
minister  Pitt,  who  had  steered  her  through  such  perilous 
times.  It  is  said  that  the  news  of  Austerlitz  was  the  final 
blow  to  a  nature  worn  out  by  stress  and  anxiety.  In 
September  of  the  same  year  his  talented  but  inferior 
rival,  Fox,  died  also. 

In  this  year  was  issued  the  famous  Berlin  Decree,  by 
which  Napoleon  prohibited  all  commerce  with  Great 
Britain,  and  declared  confiscated  any  British  merchandise 
or  shipping.  But  Britain  had  spirit  enough  to  retort  in 
the  following  year  with  a  decree  declaring  a  blockade  of 
France,  and  that  any  of  her  merchant  vessels  were  fair 
prizes  unless  they  had  previously  touched  at  a  British 
port. 

The  war  continued  without  intermission  throughout 
1807.  Austria,  exhausted,  had  sullenly  withdrawn, 
Prussia  had  plucked  up  spirit  to  join  with  Russia  in 
opposing  the  conqueror  of  Europe,  but  in  June,  after  the 
hard  fought  battle  of  Frieland,  France  concluded  with 
Russia  the  secret  Peace  of  Tilsit,  based  upon  mutual 
hatred  of  England.  England,  however,  soon  found  out 
the  menace  directed  against  her,  and  as  the  French 
troops  marched  to  Denmark,  evidently  with  the  intention 
of  summoning  that  country  to  use  her  fleet  in  accordance 
with  their  orders,  England  by  a  prompt  and  brilliant 
countermove  appeared  before  Copenhagen  first,  and  by 
bombarding  the  town  compelled  submission,  and  carried 
away  the  whole  fleet  for  safety's  sake.  Those  were 
glorious  days  for  the  navy,  when  measures  were 
prompt  and    decisive,    when    no    hesitation    and    shilly- 


26o  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

shallying  and  fear  of  "  hurting  the  feelings "  of  an  un- 
scrupulous enemy  prevented  Britain  from  taking  care  of 
herself. 

Britain  was  now  at  war  with  Russia  and  Denmark  as 
well  as  France,  but  the  unprecedented  duplicity  of  Napoleon 
in  Spain  in  1807  gave  Britain  an  unexpected  field  on 
which  to  do  battle,  and  allies  by  no  means  to  be  despised. 
Spain  was  France's  ally,  yet  France  after  marching 
through  the  country  to  crush  Portugal,  quietly  annexed 
the  country  of  their  ally  in  returning,  and  by  a  ruse  made 
the  whole  Royal  Family  prisoners  in  France,  while 
Napoleon's  brother  Joseph,  King  of  Naples,  was  sub- 
sequently proclaimed  King.  The  Spaniards  were  aroused, 
and  though  the  best  of  their  troops  had  been  previously 
drawn  off  into  Germany  by  the  tyrant,  they  managed  to 
give  a  good  account  of  themselves,  even  against  the 
invincible  French.  Joseph  Buonaparte  had  been  pro- 
claimed King  of  Spain  in  June  1808.  In  that  month 
Jane  was  at  Godmcrsham  again,  and  though  she  did  not 
know  it,  this  was  the  last  visit  she  would  pay  before  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Edward  Knight,  which  occurred  in  the 
following  October,  at  the  birth  of  her  eleventh  child  ; 
Jane  seems  to  have  noticed  her  sister-in-law  was  not  in 
good  health,  she  says,  "  I  cannot  praise  Elizabeth's  looks, 
but  they  are  probably  affected  by  a  cold." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Austen  accompanied  her  on 
this  visit,  and  her  account  of  the  arrival  gives  such  a 
homely  picture  that,  trivial  as  it  is,  it  is  worth  quoting. 
"  Our  two  brothers  were  walking  before  the  house  as  we 
approached  as  natural  as  life.  Fanny  and  Lizzy  met  us 
in  the  hall  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasant  joy.  .  .  .  Fanny 
came  to  me  as  soon  as  she  had  seen  her  aunt  James  to 
her  room,  and  stayed  while  I  dressed  .  .  .  she  is  grown 
both  in  height  and  size  since  last  year,  but  not  im- 
moderately, looks  very  well,  and   seems   as  to  conduct 


FASHIONS    FOR   LADIES   IN   1795 


'K.. 


AT  SOUTHAMPTON  261 

and  manner  just  what  she  was  and  what  one  could  wish 
her  to  continue." 

"  Yesterday  passed  quite  a  la  Godmersham ;  the 
gentlemen  rode  about  Edward's  farm,  and  returned  in 
time  to  saunter  along  Bentigh  with  us ;  and  after  dinner 
we  visited  the  Temple  Plantations.  .  .  .  James  and 
Mary  are  much  struck  with  the  beauty  of  the  place." 

Lord  Brabourne  gives  a  note  on  the  Temple  Planta- 
tion, it  was  "  once  a  ploughed  field,  but  when  my  grand- 
father first  came  to  Godmersham,  he  planted  it  with 
underwood,  and  made  gravel  walks  through  it,  planted 
an  avenue  of  trees  on  each  side  of  the  principal  walk, 
and  added  it  to  the  shrubberies.  The  family  always 
walked  through  it  on  their  way  to  church,  leaving  the 
shrubberies  by  a  little  door  in  the  wall  at  the  end  of  the 
pr'vate  grounds." 

The  casual  sentence  "  Mary  finds  the  children  less 
troublesome  than  she  expected,"  adds  one  more  stroke 
to  the  character  of  that  sister-in-law  which  Jane  makes 
us  know  so  well. 

Mrs.  Knight  senior  was  still  living,  and  was  generous 
tov/ard  the  other  members  of  her  adopted  son's  family 
besides  himself. 

"  This  morning  brought  me  a  letter  from  Mrs. 
Knight,  containing  the  usual  fee,  and  all  the  usual 
kindness.  .  .  .  She  asks  me  to  spend  a  day  or  two  with 
her  this  week  .  .  .  her  very  agreeable  present  will  make 
my  circumstances  quite  easy ;  I  shall  reserve  half  for  my 
pelisse." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Mrs.  Edward  Knight 
had  been  a  Miss  Bridges,  and  the  good-natured  Harriet, 
her  sister,  was  now  staying  at  Godmersham  with  her 
own  husband,  Mr.  Moore,  whom  Jane  did  not  think 
good  enough  for  her,  though  she  admits  later,  "  he  is  a 
sensible  man,  and  tells  a  story  well."      She  refers  to  her 


262  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

sister-in-law's  opinion  of  her,  "  Mary  was  very  disap- 
pointed in  her  beauty,  and  thought  him  very  disagree- 
able ;  James  admires  her  and  finds  him  pleasant  and 
conversable." 

It  was  at  the  conclusion  of  this  visit  that  Jane  wrote 
to  her  sister  of  the  pressing  necessity  of  coming  home 
again  to  meet  the  visitor  with  whom  her  "  honour  as 
well  as  affection  "  were  engaged. 

She  was  now  thirty-two,  no  longer  a  young  girl,  and 
not  at  all  likely  to  mistake  the  nature  of  attentions  of 
which  she  had  had  her  full  share.  However  it  was, 
whether  the  visitor  did  not  come,  or  coming  proved 
himself  unequal  to  her  ideal,  we  do  not  know,  and  in 
any  case  the  romance  so  mysteriously  suggested  by 
these  few  words,  must  ever  remain  in  the  shadow. 

Jane  speaks  with  pleasure  of  her  sister-in-law, 
Elizabeth,  "  having  a  very  sweet  scheme  of  accompanying 
Edward  into  Kent  next  Christmas."  Alas,  before  that 
Christmas  came,  the  loving  mother,  who  seems  to  have 
been  in  every  way  a  perfect  wife  and  sister,  was  no  more. 

When  this  sad  event  occurred  in  October  the  sisters 
had  again  changed  places,  Cassandra  being  at  Godmer- 
sham  and  Jane  at  Southampton.  The  first  of  Jane's 
letters  of  this  period  is  congratulatory  on  the  birth  of 
Edward's  eleventh  child,  and  sixth  son,  but  very  shortly 
afterwards  she  writes  in  real  sorrow  at  the  dreadful  news 
which  has  reached  her  of  the  death  of  her  dear  sister-in- 
law.  The  news  came  by  way  of  Mrs.  James  Austen 
and  her  sister  Martha,  who  was  at  Southampton. 

"  We  have  felt — we  do  feel — for  you  all  as  you  do 
not  need  to  be  told  ;  for  you,  for  Fanny,  for  Henry,  for 
Lady  Bridges,  and  for  dearest  Edward,  whose  loss  and 
whose  sufferings  seem  to  make  those  of  every  other 
person  nothing.  God  be  praised  that  you  can  say  what 
you  do  of  him,  that  he  has  a  religious  mind  to  bear  him 


AT  SOUTHAMPTON  263 

up  and  a  disposition  that  will  gradually  lead  him  to 
comfort.  My  dear,  dear  Fanny,  I  am  so  thankful  that 
she  has  you  with  her  !  You  will  be  everything  to  her ; 
you  will  give  her  all  the  consolation  that  human  aid  can 
give.  May  the  Almighty  sustain  you  all,  and  keep  you, 
my  dearest  Cassandra,  well." 

"  With  what  true  sympathy  our  feelings  are  shared 
by  Martha  you  need  not  be  told  ;  she  is  the  friend  and 
sister  under  every  circumstance." 

Poor  Fanny  was  then  in  her  sixteenth  year,  the 
time  when  a  girl  perhaps  feels  the  loss  of  a  sensible, 
affectionate  mother  more  than  any  other.  She  acquitted 
herself  splendidly  in  the  difficult  task  that  fell  on  her  as 
the  eldest  of  so  many  brothers  and  sisters.  Her  next 
sister  Lizzy  was  at  this  time  only  eight  years  old,  and 
though  she  seems  to  have  felt  the  loss  keenly,  it  could 
not  be  the  same  to  her  as  it  was  to  Fanny. 

Mourning  at  that  time  entailed  heavy  crape,  and 
Jane  at  once  fitted  herself  out  with  all  that  was  proper. 
The  two  eldest  boys,  Edward  and  George,  were  by  this 
time  at  Winchester  College,  but  when  their  mother  died 
they  went  first  to  their  aunt  and  uncle  at  Steventon,  and 
on  October  24  came  on  to  Southampton.  Jane's  next 
letter  is  full  of  them.  "  They  behave  extremely  well  in 
every  respect,  showing  quite  as  much  feeling  as  one 
wishes  to  see,  and  on  every  occasion  speaking  of  their 
father  with  the  liveliest  affection.  His  letter  was  read 
over  by  each  of  them  yesterday  and  with  many  tears ; 
George  sobbed  aloud,  Edward's  tears  do  not  flow  so 
easily,  but  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  they  are  both  very 
properly  impressed  by  what  has  happened.  .  .  .  George 
is  almost  a  new  acquaintance  to  me,  and  I  find  him,  in 
a  different  way,  as  engaging  as  Edward.  We  do  not 
want  amusement;  bilbocatch,  at  which  George  is  inde- 
fatigable,   spillikens,    paper    ships,   riddles,   conundrums, 


264  JANE  AUSTExN  AND  HER  TIMES 

and  cards,  with  watching  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  river, 
and  now  and  then  a  stroll  out  keep  us  well  employed." 

Rhymed  charades  were  a  very  common  form  of 
amusement  at  that  date,  and  all  the  Austen  family 
excelled  in  them. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Elton's  charade,  of 
which  the  meaning  was  "  Courtship,"  further  misled  the 
match-making  Emma  into  thinking  he  was  in  love  with 
Harriet  the  dowerless,  while  she  herself,  the  heiress,  was 
the  real  object  of  his  attentions. 

Several  charades  of  this  type  made  up  by  the 
Austens  are  still  extant ;  the  two  following  are  Jane's 
own. 

"Divided  I'm  a  gentleman 

In  public  deeds  and  powers  ; 
United,  I'm  a  monster,  who 
That  gentleman  devours." 

To  which  the  answer  is  A -gent. 

*'  You  may  lie  on  my  first  by  the  side  of  a  stream. 
And  my  second  compose  to  the  nymph  you  adore  ; 
But  if,   when  you've  none  of  my  whole,  her  esteem 
And  affection  diminish — think  of  her  no  more." 

Which  is  easily  read  as  Bank-note, 

Both  of  these  specimens  show  the  gaiety  of  spirit 
so  noticeable  in  the  smallest  extracts  from  her  letters. 

Her  observations  on  her  nephews  put  the  two  boys 
before  us  to  the  life.  "  While  I  write  now  George  is 
most  industriously  making  and  manning  paper  ships, 
at  which  he  afterwards  shoots  horse  chestnuts,  brought 
from  Steventon  on  purpose;  and  Edward  equally  intent 
over  the  Lake  of  Killarney  and  twisting  himself  about 
in  one  of  our  great  chairs." 

Her  wonderful  powers  as  an  entertainer  are  clearly 
shown  in  this  sad  time,   when   she  strove  to  keep  her 


AT  SOUTHAMPTON  265 

nephews  occupied  to  the  exclusion  of  sad  thoughts ; 
she  took  them  for  excursions  on  the  Itchen,  when  they 
rowed  her  in  a  boat,  and  she  was  never  weary  of 
entering  into  their  sports  and  feelings ;  her  real 
unselfishness  came  out  very  strongly  on  this  occasion. 
Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  had  sailed  for  Spain  in  the 
July  of  this  year,  and  now  England  was  in  the  throes  of 
the  Peninsular  War ;  some  of  the  very  few  allusions 
that  Jane  ever  makes  to  contemporary  events  are  to 
be  found  in  reference  to  the  Peninsular  War,  and  these 
are  more  personal  than  general.  On  hearing  of  Sir 
John  Moore's  death  in  January  1809,  she  writes: 
"  I  am  sorry  to  find  that  Sir  J.  Moore  has  a  mother 
living,  but  though  a  very  heroic  son,  he  might  not  be 
a  very  necessary  one  to  her  happiness.  ...  I  wish  Sir 
John  had  united  something  of  the  Christian  with  the 
hero  in  his  death.  Thank  heaven  we  have  had  no  one 
to  care  for  particularly  among  the  troops,  no  one  in  fact 
nearer  to  us  than  Sir  John  himself." 


CHAPTER  XV 
CHAWTON 

IN  1809  another  move  was  contemplated.  Edward 
Knight  had  found  it  in  his  power  to  offer  his 
mother  and  sisters  a  home  rent  free ;  and  he  gave  them 
the  choice  of  a  house  in  Kent,  probably  not  far  from 
Godmersham,  or  a  cottage  at  Chawton  close  to  his 
Manor   House  there. 

The  latter  offer  was  accepted,  and  preparations  were 
made  to  alter  the  cottage,  which  had  been  a  steward's 
residence,  into  a  comfortable  dwelling.  The  cottage  is 
still  standing,  close  by  the  main  road,  and  may  be  seen 
by  anyone  in  passing ;  it  is  of  considerable  size,  and 
there  are  six  bedrooms  besides  garrets.  It  stands 
close  to  the  junction  of  two  roads,  one  of  which 
passes  through  Winchester  to  Southampton,  and  the 
other  through  Fareham  to  Gosport.  Chawton  lies 
about  as  far  north-west  of  Winchester  as  Steventon 
does  north. 

The  considerable  country  town  of  Alton,  which 
would  be  convenient  for  shopping,  is  only  about  a 
mile  from  the  village.  The  cottage,  dreary  and  weather- 
beaten  in  appearance,  is  of  a  solid  square  shape,  and 
abuts  on  the  high-road  with  only  a  paling  in  front. 
It  is  not  an  attractive  looking  dwelling,  but  probably  at 
the  time  was  fresher  and  brighter  in  appearance  than  it 
is  now.      It  had  also  the  advantage  of  a  good  garden. 

266 


CHAWTON  267 

It  is  now  partially  used  for  a  club  or  reading-room 
and  partially  by  cottagers.  At  the  junction  of  the 
two  roads  aforesaid  is  a  muddy  pond,  that  which  was 
playfully  referred  to  by  Jane  in  writing  to  her  nephew, 
who  had  not  been  well,  when  she  says  "  you  may  be 
ordered  to  a  house  by  the  sea  or  by  a  very  considerable 
pond." 

A  short  distance  along  the  Gosport  Road  is  the 
entrance  gate  to  the  Manor  House,  and  about  fifty  yards 
up  the  drive  is  the  pretty  little  church,  considerably 
altered  since  Jane's  time,  with  pinnacled  and  ivy- 
mantled  tower.  Just  above  it  is  the  fine  old  Elizabethan 
house. 

In  1525  one  William  Knight  had  a  lease  of  the 
place ;  the  house  itself  was  probably  built  by  his  son 
John,  who  bought  the  estate,  and  it  has  remained  ever 
since  in  the  hands  of  the  Knight  family,  if  we  may 
count  adoption  as  ranking  in  family  inheritance. 

The  move  to  Chawton  was  evidently  some  time  in 
contemplation  before  actually  taking  place,  for  writing 
in  December  1808,  Jane  says  that  they  want  to  be 
settled  at  Chawton  "  in  time  for  Henry  to  come  to  us 
for  some  shooting  in  October  at  least,  or  a  little  earlier, 
and  Edward  may  visit  us  after  taking  his  boys  back 
to  Winchester.  Suppose  we  name  the  fourth  of 
September." 

Of  the  actual  settling  in  at  Chawton  we  have  no 
details,  for  the  next  batch  of  letters  begins  in  April  1 8 1 1 , 
and  Jane,  with  her  mother  and  sister,  had  been  there 
about  a  year  and  a  half. 

Chawton  was  her  home  for  the  rest  of  her  short  life, 
though  she  actually  died  at  Winchester.  At  Chawton 
her  three  last  novels  were  written,  as  will  be  recounted 
in  detail.  It  is  curious  that  the  periods  of  her  literary 
activity    seem    to    have     been     synchronous     with    her 


268  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

residence  in  the  country ;  at  Steventon  and  at  Chawton 
respectively  she  produced  three  novels ;  at  Bath  only 
a  fragment,  and  at  Southampton  nothing  at  all. 

The  life  at  Chawton  during  this  and  the  next  few 
years  must  have  been  part  of  the  happiest  time  she 
ever  experienced.  Her  first  book,  Sense  and  Sensibility ^ 
was  published  in  1 8 1 1  ;  she  had  tasted  the  joys  of 
earning  money,  and,  what  was  much  greater,  the  joy 
of  seeing  her  own  ideas  and  characters  in  tangible 
shape ;  she  lived  in  a  comfortable,  pretty  home,  with  the 
comings  and  goings  of  her  relatives  at  the  Manor  House 
to  add  variety,  and  she  had  probably  lost  the  restless- 
ness of  girlhood.  If  the  conjecture  of  which  w^e  have 
spoken  in  a  previous  chapter  was  true,  she  had  now 
had  time  to  get  over  a  sorrow  which  must  have  taken 
its  place  with  those  sweet  unrealised  dreams  in  which 
the  pain  is  much  softened  by  retrospect.  That  she 
fully  appreciated  her  country  surroundings  is  shown  by 
frequent  notes  on  the  garden  at  Chawton.  "  Our  young 
piony  at  the  foot  of  the  firtree  has  just  blown  and 
looks  very  handsome,  and  the  whole  of  the  shrubbery 
border  will  soon  be  very  gay  with  pinks  and  sweet 
Williams,  in  addition  to  the  columbines  already  in 
bloom.  The  Syringas  too  are  coming  out.  We 
are  likely  to  have  a  great  crop  of  Orleans  plums,  but 
not  many  greengages."  "  You  cannot  imagine  what  a 
nice  walk  we  have  round  the  orchard.  The  row  of 
beech  look  very  pretty  and  so  does  the  young  quick- 
set hedge  in  the  garden.  I  hear  to-day  that  an 
apricot  has  been  detected  on  one  of  the  trees." 
"  Yesterday  1  had  the  agreeable  surprise  of  finding 
several  scarlet  strawberries  quite  ripe.  There  are  more 
strawberries  and  fewer  currants  than  I  thought  at  first. 
We  must  buy  currants  for  our  wine." 

Thus   the   seasons   are    marked.     The    Austens    ate 


CHAWTON  269 

their  own  tender  young  peas  from  the  garden,  and  "  my 
mother's  "  chickens  supplied  the  table. 

Mrs.  Austen  at  this  time  seems  to  have  taken  a 
new  lease  of  life,  she  busied  herself  with  garden  and 
poultry,  and  did  not  shirk  even  the  harder  details 
necessitated  by  these  occupations. 

Her  granddaughter  Anna,  James's  eldest  daughter, 
now  grown  up,  was  a  constant  visitor  at  the  cottage, 
and  speaks  of  Mrs.  Austen's  wearing  a  "round  green 
frock  like  a  day  labourer "  and  "  digging  her  own 
potatoes."  Anna  enjoyed  the  little  gaieties  that  fell 
to  her  lot  as  freshly  as  her  aunt  had  done  at  her 
age,  indeed  with  even  more  simplicity,  for  Jane  remarks 
of  one  ball  to  which  she  went  "  it  would  not  have 
satisfied  me  at  her  age."  And  again,  "  Anna  had  a 
delightful  evening  at  the  Miss  Middletons,  syllabub, 
tea,  coffee,  singing,  dancing,  a  hot  supper,  eleven 
o'clock,  everything  that  can  be  imagined  agreeable," 
as  if  the  freshness  of  Anna's  youth  were  very  fresh 
indeed. 

The  beautiful  park  stretching  around  Chawton  House, 
with  its  fine  beech  trees,  was  of  course  quite  open  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  cottage,  who  must  have  derived  many 
advantages  from  their  near  relationship  to  the  owner. 

Altogether,  with  the  freedom  from  care  for  the  future, 
the  companionship  of  her  sister,  the  increased  health  and 
energy  of  her  mother,  the  solace  of  her  writing,  the 
comings  and  goings  of  the  Chawton  party,  and  the  occa- 
sional visits  to  London  and  elsewhere,  to  give  her  fresh 
ideas,  Jane's  life  must  have  been  as  pleasant  as  external 
circumstances  could  make  it.  We  can  picture  her 
sauntering  out  in  the  early  summer  sunshine,  her  head 
demurely  encased  in  the  inevitable  cap,  while  the  long 
stray  curl  tickles  her  cheek  as  she  stoops  to  see  the 
buds   bursting   into  bloom  or  triumphantly  gathers  the 


270  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

earliest  rose.  We  can  picture  her  standing  about  watch- 
ing Mrs.  i\usten  feeding  the  chickens,  and  giving  her 
opinion  as  to  their  management.  Then  going  in  to  the 
Httle  parlour,  or  living-room,  and  sitting  down  to  the 
piano  while  Cassandra  manipulated  an  old  -  fashioned 
tambour  frame.  In  this  little  parlour,  in  spite  of  frequent 
interruptions,  Jane  did  all  her  writing  sitting  at  the  big 
heavy  mahogany  desk  of  the  old  style,  like  a  wooden 
box,  which  opened  at  a  slant  so  as  to  form  a  support 
for  the  paper ;  at  this  time  she  was  revising  Sense  and 
Sensibility  for  the  press,  or  adding  something  to  the 
growing  pile  of  MS.  called  Mansfield  Park.  We  cannot 
imagine  that  she  wrote  much  at  a  time,  for  her  work  is 
minute,  small,  and  well  digested ;  probably  after  a  scene 
or  conversation  between  two  of  the  characters,  she  would 
be  interrupted  by  another  member  of  the  household,  and 
stroll  up  to  the  Manor  House  to  give  orders  for  the 
reception  of  some  of  the  Knight  family,  or  go  into  Alton 
to  buy  some  necessary  household  article.  Occasionally 
a  post-chaise  would  rattle  past,  or  the  daily  coach  and 
waggons  would  form  a  diversion. 

For  six  months,  during  the  year  1813,  the  whole 
of  the  Godmersham  party  lived  at  Chawton,  while  their 
other  house  was  being  repaired  and  painted,  and  this 
intercourse  added  greatly  to  Jane's  happiness.  She 
cemented  that  affectionate  friendship  with  her  eldest 
niece  Fanny,  and  Lord  Brabourne  gives  little  extracts 
from  his  mother's  diary  to  show  how  close  the  companion- 
ship was  between  the  two,  "  Aunt  Jane  and  I  had  a  very 
interesting  conversation,"  "  Aunt  Jane  and  I  had  a  very 
delicious  morning  together,"  "  Aunt  Jane  and  I  walked 
into  Alton  together,"  and  so  on. 

But  during  these  years  there  was  no  abatement  of 
the  fierce  turmoil  in  Europe,  the  Peninsular  War,  demand- 
ing ever  fresh  levies  of  men  and  fresh  subsidies  of  money, 


CHAWTON  271 

was  a  continual  drain  on  England's  resources,  and  the 
beginning  of  1 8 1 2  found  the  French  practically  masters 
of  Spain  ;  but  in  that  year  the  tide  turned,  and  after  con- 
tinual and  bloody  battles  and  sieges  in  which  the  loss 
of  life  was  enormous,  Wellington  drove  the  French  back 
across  the  Pyrenees,  and  in  the  following  year  planted 
his  victorious  standard  actually  on  French  soil. 

But  the  effects  of  the  continuous  wars  were  being 
felt  in  England,  in  1 8 1 1  broke  out  the  Luddite  riots, 
nominally  against  the  introduction  of  machinery,  but 
in  reality  because  of  the  high  price  of  bread  and  the 
scarcity  of  employment  and  money.  Austria  had  signed 
the  disastrous  Peace  of  Vienna  with  France  in  1 809,  and 
during  this  and  the  following  years  the  Continent  with 
small  exception  was  ground  beneath  the  heel  of  Napoleon, 
who  in  1 8 1 2  commenced  the  invasion  of  Russia  which 
was  to  cost  him  so  dearly.  In  1 8 1 1  there  is  rather  a 
characteristic  exclamation  in  one  of  Jane's  letters  apropos 
of  the  war :  "  How  horrible  it  is  to  have  so  many  people 
killed  !  And  what  a  blessing  that  one  cares  for  none  of 
them  ! " 

Napoleon's  tyranny  and  utter  regardlessness  of  the 
feelings  of  national  pride  in  the  countries  he  had  con- 
quered now  began  to  bring  forth  for  him  a  bitter  harvest. 
The  Sixth  Coalition  of  nations  was  formed  against  him, 
including  Russia,  Prussia,  Austria,  Great  Britain  and 
Sweden.  After  terrific  fighting  his  armies  were  forced 
back  over  the  Rhine,  and  the  mighty  Empire  he  had 
formed  of  powerless  and  degraded  "  Republics "  melted 
away  like  snow  in  an  August  sun.  In  March  18 14,  Paris, 
itself  was  forced  to  surrender  to  the  triumphant  armies 
of  the  Allies.  In  April,  Napoleon  signed  his  abdication 
and  retired  to  Elba.  Ever  since  he  first  appeared  as  an 
active  agent  on  the  battlefields  of  Europe  he  had  kept 
the  Continent  in  a  perpetual  ferment ;  cruelty,  bloodshed 


272  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

and  horror  had  followed  in  his  train.  His  mighty 
personality  had  seemed  scarcely  human,  and  his  very 
name  struck  terror  into  all  hearts,  and  became  a  bugbear 
with  which  to  frighten  children. 

We  have  two  letters  of  Jane's  in  the  early  part  of 
March,  written  from  London  where  she  was  staying  with 
her  brother  Henry.  There  is  not  another  until  June, 
and  that  is  dated  from  Chawton.  Of  course  it  is  difficult 
to  imagine  that  any  intermediate  letters  she  wrote  can 
have  been  entirely  free  from  allusion  to  the  great  news 
at  which  the  whole  Continent  burst  into  paeans  of 
thankfulness,  and  which  must  have  made  England  feel 
as  if  she  had  awakened  from  a  nightmare,  but  as  we 
have  no  proof  either  way  it  must  be  left  open  to  doubt. 

In  the  June  letter  she  says  to  Cassandra,  who  was  in 
London,  "  Take  care  of  yourself  and  do  not  be  trampled 
to  death  in  running  after  the  Emperor.  The  report  in 
Alton  yesterday  was  that  they  would  certainly  travel 
this  road  either  to  or  from  Portsmouth."  This  referred 
to  the  visit  of  the  Allied  monarchs  to  England  after  their 
triumph  in  Paris,  and  the  "  Emperor  "  was  the  Emperor 
Alexander  of  Russia,  who  but  a  few  years  ago  had 
formed  a  secret  treaty  with  Napoleon  to  the  detriment  of 
England ! 

Here  we  must  leave  political  matters,  to  take  a  short 
review  of  the  work  which  Jane  had  produced  in  the  years 
since  she  had  come  to  Chawton. 

In  1 8 1 1  the  first  of  her  books.  Sense  and  Sensibility^ 
was  published  at  her  own  expense,  and  produced  in  three 
neat  little  volumes  in  clear  type  by  T.  Egerton,  White- 
hall. Her  identity  was  not  disclosed  by  the  title-page, 
which  simply  bore  the  words  "  By  a  Lady."  She  paid 
a  visit  to  her  brother  Henry  in  London  in  order  to 
arrange  the  details,  with  which  Henry  helped  her  very 
much.     When    in   London   with   this  object   she   writes, 


CHAWTON  273 

"  No,  indeed,  I  am  never  too  busy  to  think  of  Sense  and 
Sensibility.  I  can  no  more  forget  it  than  a  mother  can 
forget  her  sucking  child,  and  I  am  much  obHged  to  you 
for  your  enquiries.  I  have  had  two  sheets  to  correct 
but  the  last  only  brings  us  to  Willoughby's  first  appear- 
ance. Mrs.  K.  regrets  in  the  most  flattering  manner 
that  she  must  wait  till  May,  but  I  have  scarcely  a  hope 
of  its  being  out  in  June.  Henry  does  not  neglect  it ;  he 
has  hurried  the  printer,  and  says  he  will  see  him  again 
to-day." 

Sense  and  Sensibility  did  not  come  out  until  she  had 
returned  to  the  country,  and  when  she  received  £\<iO 
for  it  later  on,  she  thought  it  "  a  prodigious  recompense 
for  that  which  had  cost  her  nothing."  And  certainly, 
considering  her  anonymity  and  the  small  chances  the 
book  had,  she  had  good  reason  to  be  satisfied.  The 
gratifying  reception  of  Sense  a7id  Sensibility  seems  to 
have  awakened  the  powers  of  writing  which  had  so  long 
lain  dormant  from  want  of  encouragement.  In  1812 
she  began  Mansfield  Park^  perhaps  in  some  ways  the 
least  interesting,  though  by  no  means  the  least  well  con- 
structed, of  her  novels.  Edmund  and  Fanny  are  both 
a  little  too  mild  for  the  taste  of  most  people,  and  are  far 
from  taking  their  real  place  as  hero  and  heroine.  How- 
ever, Edmund's  blind  partiality  for  Miss  Crawford  is  very 
natural,  and,  as  Henry  Austen  himself  said,  it  is  certainly 
impossible  to  tell  until  quite  the  end  how  the  story  is 
going  to  be  finished.  The  minor  characters  are  through- 
out excellent ;  it  is  one  of  Jane's  shining  qualities  that 
no  character,  however  small  the  part  it  has  to  play,  remains 
unknown,  she  seems  able  to  describe  in  a  touch  or  two 
some  human  quality  or  defect  which  at  once  brings  us 
into  intimate  relations  with  either  man  or  woman.  Mr. 
Rushworth's  self-importance,  "  I  am  to  be  Count  Cassel 
and  to  come  in  first  in  a  blue  dress,  and  a  pink  satin 


274  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

cloak,  and  afterwards  have  another  fine  fancy  suit  by  way 
of  a  shooting  dress.  I  do  not  know  how  I  shall  like  it 
...  I  shall  hardly  know  myself  in  a  blue  dress  and  pink 
satin  cloak,"  is  excellent. 

Lady  Bertram's  character  might  be  gathered  from 
one  sentence  in  the  letter  which  she  sends  to  Fanny, 
telling  of  her  elder  son's  dangerous  illness :  "  Edmund 
kindly  proposes  attending  his  brother  immediately,  but  I 
am  happy  to  add  Sir  Thomas  will  not  leave  me  on 
this  distressing  occasion  as  it  would  be  too  trying 
for  me." 

Mrs.  Norris,  with  her  sycophantic  speeches  towards 
her  well-to-do  nieces,  her  own  opinion  of  her  virtues, 
her  admonitions  to  Fanny,  her  habit  of  taking  credit  for 
the  generous  acts  performed  by  other  people,  her  spung- 
ing,  and  trick  of  getting  everything  at  the  expense  of 
others,  is  the  most  striking  figure  in  the  book.  When 
poor  Fanny,  having  been  neglected  and  left  alone  all  day, 
the  odd  one  of  the  party,  is  returning  with  the  rest 
rather  drearily  from  Rushworth  Park,  Mrs.  Norris 
remarks — 

"  Well,  Fanny,  this  has  been  a  fine  day  for  you,  upon 
my  word !  Nothing  but  pleasure  from  beginning  to 
end  !  I  am  sure  you  ought  to  be  very  much  obliged  to 
your  Aunt  Bertram  and  me  for  contriving  to  let  you  go. 
A  pretty  good  day's  amusement  you  have  had."  This, 
when  she  has  done  her  best  to  stop  Fanny's  going  at 
all,  depicts  her  character  in  unmistakable  colours.  On 
another  occasion  she  tells  the  meek  Fanny,  "  The 
nonsense  and  folly  of  people's  stepping  out  of  their  rank 
and  trying  to  appear  above  themselves  makes  me  think 
it  right  to  give  you  a  hint,  Fanny,  now  that  you  are 
going  into  company  without  any  of  us,  and  I  do  beseech 
and  entreat  you  not  to  be  putting  yourself  forward,  and 
talking  and  giving  your  opinion  as  if  you  were  one  of 


CHAWTON  275 

your  cousins,  as  if  you  were  dear  Mrs.  Rushworth  or 
Julia.  That  will  never  do,  believe  me.  Remember 
wherever  you  are  you  must  be  the  lowest  and  last."  In 
the  same  book  Sir  Thomas  Bertram's  conference  with  his 
niece  on  the  proposals  he  has  received  for  her  from  Mr. 
Crawford  is  a  wonderful  commentary  on  the  opinions  of 
the  time,  but  is  too  long  to  quote  in  entirety.  That 
Fanny  should  refuse  a  handsome  eligible  young  man, 
merely  because  she  could  neither  respect  nor  love  him, 
was  quite  incredible,  and  not  only  foolish  but  wicked. 
Sir  Thomas  speaks  sternly  of  his  disappointment  in  her 
character,  "  I  had  thought  you  peculiarly  free  from 
wilfulness  of  temper,  self-conceit  and  every  tendency  to 
that  independence  of  spirit  which  prevails  so  much  in 
modern  days,  even  in  young  women,  and  which,  in  young 
women,  is  offensive  and  disgusting  beyond  all  common 
offence." 

We  know  what  Jane  herself  thought  of  coercion  of 
this  kind,  and  how  fully  her  sentiments  were  on  the  side 
of  liberty  of  choice. 

Among  the  other  excellencies  of  Mansfield  Park  we 
may  note  the  sketch  of  Fanny's  home  at  Portsmouth, 
with  her  loud-voiced  father  and  noisy  brothers  so 
distressing  to  her  excessive  sensitiveness.  With  all 
these  merits,  and  to  add  to  them  that  of  excellent 
construction,  Mansfield  Park  may  rank  high  in  spite  of 
its  somewhat  colourless  hero  and  heroine.  We  cannot, 
however,  leave  Edmund  and  Fanny  in  the  same  certainty 
of  a  happy  future  as  we  may  leave  others  of  the  heroes 
and  heroines  in  the  novels  ;  they  may  rub  along  well 
enough,  but  we  feel  they  cannot  but  be  intolerably  dull, 
though  perhaps  so  long  as  people  are  not  aware  of  their 
own  dulness  they  may  enjoy  happiness  of  a  negative 
sort ! 

Henry  Austen  read    Mansfield   Park  in   MS.  while 


276  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

travelling  with  his  sister,  and  she  notes  with  pleasure, 
"  Henry's  approbation  is  hitherto  even  equal  to  my  wishes. 
He  says  it  is  different  from  the  other  two,  but  he  does 
not  think  it  at  all  inferior.  He  has  only  married  Mrs. 
Rushworth.  I  am  afraid  he  has  gone  through  the  most 
entertaining  part.  He  took  to  Lady  Bertram  and  Mrs. 
Norris  most  kindly,  and  gives  great  praise  to  the 
drawing  of  all  the  characters.  He  understands  them  all, 
likes  Fanny,  and,  I  think,  foresees  how  it  will  all  be." 
And  she  adds  later,  "  Henry  is  going  on  with  Mansfield 
Park,  He  admires  H.  Crawford  ;  I  mean  properly,  as  a 
clever  pleasant  man,  I  tell  you  all  the  good  I  can,  and 
I  know  how  much  you  will  enjoy  it."  "  Henry  has  this 
moment  said  he  likes  my  M.  P.  better  and  better ;  he  is 
in  the  third  volume ;  I  believe  now  he  has  changed  his 
mind  as  to  foreseeing  the  end  ;  he  said  yesterday  at 
least  he  defied  anybody  to  say  whether  H.  C.  would 
be  reformed  or  forget  Fanny  in  a  fortnight." 

The  first  two  extracts  are  from  a  letter  given  in  Mr. 
Austen-Leigh's  Memoir. 

In  1 8 1  3  came  the  publication  of  Pride  and  Prejudice^ 
apparently  at  Mr.  Egerton's  risk.  This  was  evidently 
Jane's  own  favourite  among  the  novels,  and  her  references 
to  it  are  made  with  genuine  delight. 

"  Lady  Robert  is  delighted  with  P.  and  P.,  and 
really  was  so,  I  understand,  before  she  knew  who  wrote 
it,  for,  of  course  she  knows  now."  "  I  long  to  have  you 
hear  Mr.  H's  opinion  of  P.  and  P.  His  admiring  my 
Elizabeth  so  much  is  particularly  welcome  to  me." 
"  Poor  Dr.  Isham  is  obliged  to  admire  P.  and  P.  and  to 
send  me  word  that  he  is  sure  he  shall  not  like  Madam 
D'Arblay's  new  novel  half  so  well.  Mrs.  C.  invented  it 
all  of  course."  The  book  had  come  out  quite  in  the 
beginning  of  the  year,  for  in  a  letter  dated  Jan.  29, 
181  3,  given  by  Mr.  Austen-Leigh,  she  writes — 


CHAWTON  277 

"  I  hope  you  received  my  little  parcel  by  J.  Bond  on 
Wednesday  evening,  my  dear  Cassandra,  and  that  you 
will  be  ready  to  hear  from  me  again  on  Sunday,  for  1 
feel  that  I  must  write  to  you  to-day.  I  want  to  tell  you 
that  I  have  got  my  own  darling  child  from  London. 
On  Wednesday  I  received  one  copy  sent  down  by 
Falkner  with  three  lines  from  Henry  to  say  that  he  had 
given  another  to  Charles  and  sent  a  third  by  the  coach 
to  Godmersham.  .  .  .  The  advertisement  is  in  our  paper 
to-day  for  the  first  time:  i8s.  He  shall  ask  £1,  is, 
for  my  two  next  and  £1^  8s.  for  my  stupidest  of  all." 

Mansfield  Park  was  finished  in  the  same  year,  and 
came  out  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Egerton  in  18 14, 
though  the  second  edition  was  transferred  to  Mr.  Murray. 
Before  the  publication  of  Emma,  Jane  had  begun  to  be 
known  in  spite  of  the  anonymity  of  her  title-pages. 
The  only  bit  of  public  recognition  she  ever  personally 
received  was  accorded  to  her  while  she  was  in  London, 
and  must  be  told  in  the  account  of  her  London 
experiences. 


CHAPTER   XVI 
IN  LONDON 

DURING  the  years  when  she  Hved  at  Chawton,  Jane 
stayed  pretty  frequently  in  London,  generally 
with  her  brother  Henry.  She  was  with  him  in  1 8 1 1 , 
when  he  was  in  Sloane  Street,  going  daily  to  the  bank 
in  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,  in  which  he  was  a 
partner. 

Mr.  Austen-Leigh  says  of  Henry  Austen,  "  He  was 
a  very  entertaining  companion,  but  had  perhaps  less 
steadiness  of  purpose,  certainly  less  success  in  life,  than 
his  brothers." 

Jane  was  evidently  very  fond  of  Henry,  and  fully 
appreciated  his  ready  sympathy  and  interest  in  her 
affairs.  In  speaking  of  her  young  nephew  George 
Knight,  she  says :  "  George's  enquiries  were  endless, 
and  his  eagerness  in  everything  reminds  me  often  of  his 
uncle  Henry." 

Henry  was  at  this  time  married  to  his  cousin  Eliza, 
widow  of  the  Count  de  Feuillade,  who  has  already 
been  mentioned,  and  Eliza  was  evidently  vivacious  and 
fond  of  society,  so  her  sister-in-law  had  by  no  means  a 
dull  time  when  staying  with  her.  But  how  different 
were  Jane's  visits  to  London,  unknown,  and  certainly 
without  any  idea  of  the  fame  that  was  to  attend  her 
later,  to  those  of  her  forerunners  and  contemporaries 
who    had    been    "  discovered,"    and    who    on     the    very 

278 


IN  LONDON  279 

slightest  grounds  were  feted  and  adored.  The  company 
of  Mrs.  Austen's  friends,  a  Httle  shopping,  an  occasional 
visit  to  the  play,  these  were  the  details  which  filled  up 
the  daily  routine  of  Jane's  visit.  She  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  many  of  her  sister-in-law's  French  friends,  and 
enjoyed  a  large  musical  party  given  by  her,  where, 
"  including  everybody  we  were  sixty-six,"  and  where 
"  the  music  was  extremely  good  harp,  pianoforte,  and 
singing,"  and  the  "  house  was  not  clear  till  twelve." 

It  is  not  difficult  to  reconstruct  the  London  that 
she  knew.  Rocque's  splendid  map  of  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  gives  us  a  basis  to  go  upon,  though 
houses  had  been  rapidly  built  since  it  was  made.  Even 
at  Rocque's  date,  London  reached  to  Hyde  Park  Corner, 
and  the  district  we  call  Mayfair  was  one  of  the  smartest 
parts  of  the  town.  St.  George's  Hospital  stood  at  the 
corner  as  at  present,  and  a  line  of  houses  bordered  the 
road  running  past  it,  but  beyond  this,  over  Belgravia, 
were  open  fields  called  the  Five  Fields  crossed  by  the 
rambling  Westbourne  stream,  and  traversed  by  paths. 

Sloane  Street  itself  had  been  planned  in  1780,  and 
was  called  after  the  famous  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  whose 
collection  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  British  Museum. 
It  was  therefore  comparatively  new  in  Jane's  time.  To 
the  south,  near  the  river,  there  were  a  good  many 
houses  at  Chelsea,  that  is  to  say  south  of  King's  Road, 
and  Chelsea  Hospital  of  course  stood  as  at  present. 
Next  to  it,  where  is  now  the  strip  of  garden  open  to 
the  public,  and  lined  by  Bridge  Road,  stood  the  waste 
site  and  ruins  of  the  famous  Ranelagh  Rotunda,  which 
had  been  in  its  time  the  scene  of  so  much  gaiety;  only 
a  few  years  previous  to  Jane's  visit  to  Sloane  Street  it 
had  been  demolished  and  the  fittings  sold. 

Vauxhall,  however,  the  great  rival  of  Ranelagh,  was 
still     popular,    and     continued,    with    gradually    waning 


28o  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

patronage,  until  after  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
It  does  not  appear  that  Jane  ever  went  there,  however. 

As  for  Knightsbridge,  if  we  imagine  all  the  great 
modern  buildings  such  as  Sloane  Court  and  the  Barracks 
done  away  with,  and  picture  a  long  unpaved  road 
stretching  away  into  fields  and  open  country  westward, 
with  a  few  small  houses  of  the  brick  box  type  on  both 
sides,  we  get  some  idea  of  the  district.  Sloane  Street 
was  then  in  fact  quite  the  end  of  London ;  not  long 
before  it  had  been  dangerous  to  travel  to  the  outlying 
village  of  Chelsea  without  protection  at  night,  and  it 
was  not  until  another  fourteen  years  had  passed  that  the 
Five  Fields  were  laid  out  for  building. 

In  the  London  of  that  date,  many  things  we  now 
take  as  commonplace  necessaries  were  altogether  want- 
ing, and  if  we  could  be  carried  back  in  time  it  would  be 
the  negative  side  that  would  strike  us  most ;  for  instance, 
there  was  very  little  pavement,  and  what  there  was  was 
composed  of  great  rounded  stones  like  the  worst  sort  of 
cobble  paving  in  a  provincial  town.  Most  of  the  roads 
were  made  of  gravel  and  dirt ;  Jane  mentions  a  fresh 
load  of  gravel  having  been  thrown  down  near  Hyde 
Park  Corner,  which  made  the  work  so  stiff  that  "  the 
horses  refused  the  collar  and  jibbed."  Grosley  tells  us 
many  little  details  which  are  just  what  we  want  to 
know,  of  the  kind  which  in  all  ages  are  taken  for 
granted  by  those  who  live  amid  them,  so  that  they  need 
a  stranger  to  record  them. 

He  gives  us  first  an  account  of  his  arrival  in  London 
by  coach  over  Westminster  Bridge. 

"  I  arrived  in  London  towards  the  close  of  the  day. 
Though  the  sun  was  still  above  the  horizon,  the  lamps 
were  already  lighted  upon  Westminster  Bridge,  and 
upon  the  roads  and  streets  that  lead  to  it.  These 
streets   are   broad,  regular,  and  lined  with  high   houses 


IN  LONDON  281 

forming  the  most  beautiful  quarter  of  London.  The 
river  covered  with  boats  of  different  sizes,  the  bridge 
and  the  streets  [were]  filled  with  coaches,  their  broad 
footpaths  crowded  with  people." 

The  group  of  buildings  on  the  west  of  the  bridge 
belonged  of  course  to  the  old  Palace,  where,  in  the 
chapel  of  St.  Stephen,  sat  the  House  of  Commons. 
The  Abbey  would  be  much  as  it  is  now,  also  St. 
Margaret's  Church.  The  splendid  Holbein  gate  stand- 
ing across  Whitehall  had  been  removed  about  fifteen 
years  before  Grosley's  visit.  He  tells  us  that :  "  Means, 
however,  have  been  found  to  pave  with  free-stone  the 
great  street  called  Parliament  Street.  The  fine  street 
called  Pall  Mall  is  already  paved  in  part  with  this  stone ; 
and  they  have  also  begun  to  new  pave  the  Strand. 
The  two  first  of  these  streets  were  dry  in  May,  all  the 
rest  of  the  town  being  still  covered  with  heaps  of  dirt." 

The  dirt  is  what  strikes  him  most  everywhere : 
"  In  the  most  beautiful  part  of  the  Strand  and  near 
St.  Clement's  Church,  I  have  seen  the  middle  of  the 
street  constantly  foul  with  a  dirty  puddle  to  a  height  of 
three  or  four  inches ;  a  puddle  where  splashings  cover 
those  that  walk  on  foot,  fill  coaches  when  their  windows 
happen  not  to  be  up,  and  bedaub  all  the  lower  parts  of 
such  houses  as  are  exposed  to  it.  The  English  are 
not  afraid  of  this  dirt,  being  defended  from  it  by  their 
wigs  of  a  brownish  curling  hair,  their  black  stockings, 
and  their  blue  surtouts,  which  are  made  in  the  form  of  a 
nightgown." 

On  each  side  of  the  road  ran  a  kind  of  deep  and 
dirty  ditch  called  the  kennel,  into  which  refuse  and 
rubbish  was  thrown,  and  from  which  evil  and  unwhole- 
some odours  came.  When  vehicles  in  passing  splashed 
into  this,  a  shower  of  filth  would  bespatter  the  passers- 
by  behind  the  postSs  therefore  it  was  of  no  small  con- 


282  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

sequence  to  keep  to  the  wall,  and  the  giving  up  of  this 
was  by  no  means  a  mere  matter  of  form,  and  frequently 
produced  quarrels  between  hot-tempered  men.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  century,  however,  swords  were  not  usually 
worn,  except  by  physicians,  therefore  these  quarrels 
were  not  always  productive  of  so  much  harm  as  they 
might  have  been. 

The  streets  were  full  of  enormous  coaches,  sometimes 
gilt,  hung  on  high  springs,  drawn  by  four,  and  even  six 
horses ;  footmen,  to  the  number  of  four  or  six,  ran  beside 
them,  and  the  wheels  splashed  heavily  in  the  dirt  described, 
sending  up  the  mud  in  black  spurts.  It  was  early  in  the 
nineteenth  century  that  a  new  kind  of  paving  was  tried, 
blocks  of  cast-iron  covered  with  gravel,  but  this  was  not 
a  success.  Besides  the  large  coaches  there  were  hackney 
coaches,  which  would  seem  to  us  almost  equally  clumsy 
and  unwieldy.  Omnibuses  were  not  seen  in  the  metro- 
polis until  1823,  but  there  was  something  of  the  kind 
running  from  outlying  places  to  London,  for  Samuel 
Rogers  tells  a  story  as  follows : — 

"  Visiting    Lady   one    day,    I    made    inquiries 

about  her  sister.     *  She  is  now  staying  with  me,'  answered 

Lady ,  *  but  she  is  unwell  in  consequence  of  a  fright 

which  she  got  on  her  way  from   Richmond  to  London.' 

On    enquiry   it    turned  out   that    while    Miss  was 

coming  to  town,  the  footman  observing  an  omnibus 
approach,  and  thinking  she  might  like  to  see  it,  suddenly 
called  in  at  the  carriage  window,  '  Ma'am,  the  omnibus  ! ' 
She,  being  unacquainted  with  the  term,  and  not  sure  but 
an  omnibus  might  be  a  wild  beast  escaped  from  the 
Zoological  Gardens,  was  thrown  into  a  dreadful  state  of 
agitation  by  the  announcement,  and  this  caused  her 
indisposition." 

Hackney  coaches  were  in  severe  competition  with 
sedan  chairs,  for  to  call  a  chair  was  as  frequent  a  custom 


IN  LONDON  283 

as  to  send  for  a  hackney  coach.  The  chah'men  were 
notorious  for  their  incivility,  just  as  the  watermen  had 
previously  been,  and  as  their  successors,  the  cabmen, 
became  later,  though  now  the  reproach  is  removed  from 
them. 

The  rudeness  of  chairmen  is  exemplified  in  Tom 
Jones,  for  when  Tom  found  himself  after  the  masqued  ball 
unable  to  produce  a  shilling  for  a  chair,  he  "  walked 
boldly  on  after  the  chair  in  which  his  lady  rode,  pursued 
by  a  grand  huzza  from  all  the  chairmen  present,  who 
wisely  take  the  best  care  they  can  to  discountenance  all 
walking  afoot  by  their  betters.  Luckily,  however,  the 
gentry  who  attend  at  the  Opera  House  were  too  busy  to 
quit  their  stations,  and  as  the  lateness  of  the  hour  pre- 
vented him  from  meeting  many  of  their  brethren  in  the 
street,  he  proceeded  without  molestation  in  a  dress,  which 
at  another  season  would  have  certainly  raised  a  mob  at 
his  heels." 

These  chairs  were  kept  privately  by  great  people,  and 
often  were  very  richly  decorated  with  brocade  and  plush ; 
it  was  not  an  unusual  thing  for  the  footmen  or  chairmen 
of  the  owner  to  be  decoyed  into  a  tavern  while  the  chair 
was  stolen  for  the  sake  of  its  valuable  furniture.  The 
chairs  opened  with  a  lid  at  the  top  to  enable  the  occupant 
to  stand  up  on  entrance,  and  then  were  shut  down  ;  in 
the  caricatures  of  the  day,  these  lids  are  represented  as 
open  to  admit  of  the  lady's  enormous  feather  being  left 
on  her  head. 

It  was  of  course  quite  impossible  for  a  lady  to  go 
about  alone  in  the  streets  of  London  at  this  date,  and 
even  dangerous  sometimes  for  men.  The  porters,  carriers, 
chairmen,  drunken  sailors,  etc.,  ready  to  make  a  row,  are 
frequently  mentioned  by  Grosley,  and  scuffles  were  of 
constant  occurrence.  George  Selwyn  in  1782  was  so 
"  mobbed,   daubed,   and   beset    by   a    crew  of  wretched 


284  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

little  chimney-sweeps  "  that  he  had  to  give  them  money 
to  go  away. 

These  pests  were  under  no  sort  of  control,  as  there 
were  no  regular  police  in  the  streets. 

"  London  has  neither  troops,  patrol,  or  any  sort  of 
regular  watch ;  and  it  is  guarded  during  the  night  only 
by  old  men  chosen  from  the  dregs  of  the  people;  who 
have  no  other  arms  but  a  lanthorn  and  a  pole ;  who 
patrole  the  streets,  crying  the  hour  every  time  the  clock 
strikes ;  who  proclaim  good  and  bad  weather  in  the 
morning;  who  come  to  awake  those  who  have  any 
journey  to  perform ;  and  whom  it  is  customary  with 
young  rakes  to  beat  and  use  ill,  when  they  come  reeling 
from  the  taverns  where  they  have  spent  the  night." 
(Grosley.) 

It  is  bewildering  to  find  that  this  sort  of  thing  con- 
tinued until  George  the  Fourth's  reign,  when  Sir  Robert 
Peel's  Metropolitan  Police  Act  was  passed.  And  in 
that  lawless  rowdy  age,  one  wonders  how  the  town  ever 
got  on  without  police ;  probably  there  were  numerous 
deaths  from  violence.  It  carries  us  back  almost  to  the 
Middle  Ages  to  realise  that  so  late  as  1783  the  last 
execution  took  place  at  Tyburn  ;  Samuel  Rogers  recol- 
lected as  a  boy  seeing  a  whole  cartful  of  young  girls  in 
dresses  of  various  colours  on  their  way  to  execution  for 
having  been  concerned  in  the  burning  of  a  house  in  the 
Gordon  Riots.  Though  some  of  these  details  belong  to 
an  age  prior  to  that  when  Jane  stayed  in  London,  yet 
they  lingered  on  until  the  nineteenth  century  with  little 
change. 

In  181 1  gas  was  just  beginning  to  be  used  in  light 
ing  the  streets  !     The  town  was  in  a  strange  transitional 
state.     Pall  Mall  was    first   lighted   with   a   row  of  gas- 
lamps  in  1807,  and  on  the  King's  birthday,  June  4,  the 
wall    between    Pall    Mall    and    St.    James's    Park    was 


IN  LONDON  285 

brilliantly  illuminated  in  the  same  way,  but  gas  generally 
was  not  placed  in  the  thoroughfares  until  1812  or  181  3, 
and  meantime  oil-lamps  requiring  much  care  and  atten- 
tion were  the  only  resource. 

It  was  a  noisy,  rattling,  busy,  dirty  London  then,  as 
much  distinguished  for  its  fogs  as  it  is  at  present. 

M.  Grosley  was  much  struck  with  the  fogs :  "  We 
may  add  to  the  inconvenience  of  the  dirt  the  fog-smoke 
which,  being  mixed  with  a  constant  fog,  covers  London 
anu  wraps  it  up  entirely.  .  .  .  On  the  26th  of  April,  St. 
James's  Park  was  incessantly  covered  with  fogs,  smoke, 
and  rain,  that  scarce  left  a  possibility  of  distinguishing 
objects  at  the  distance  of  four  steps." 

He  speaks  at  another  place  of — ■ 

"  This  smoke  being  loaded  with  terrestrial  particles 
and  rollirg  in  a  thick,  heavy  atmosphere,  forms  a  cloud, 
which  envelopes  London  like  a  mantle,  a  cloud  which 
the  sun  pervades  but  rarely,  a  cloud  which,  recoiling  back 
upon  itself,  sufiers  the  sun  to  break  out  only  now  and 
then,  which  casual  appearance  procures  the  Londoners 
a  few  of  what  they  call  glorious  days." 

In  regard  to  the  main  streets  and  squares  in  the 
West  End,  the  greatest  difference  noticeable  between  the 
London  of  i  8 1 1  and  of  the  present  time  would  be  the 
network  of  dirty  and  mean  buildings  over-spreading  the 
part  where  is  now  Trafalgar  Square.  In  the  middle  of 
these  stood  the  King's  Mews,  which  had  been  rebuilt  in 
17^2,  and  was  not  done  away  with  until  1829.  At 
the  corner  where  Northumberland  Avenue  joins  Charing 
Cross,  was  the  splendid  mansion  of  the  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  which  remained  until   1874. 

Another  great  difference  lay  in  the  fact  of  there 
being  no  Regent  Street,  for  this  street  was  not  begun 
until  two  years  after  Jane's  1 8 1 1  visit.  Bond  Street 
was  there  and  Piccadilly,  and  across  the  entrance  to  the 


286  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Park,  where  is  now  the  Duke  of  York's  column,  was 
Carlton  House,  the  home  of  the  obstreperous  Prince  of 
Wales. 

In  M.  Grosley's  time,  Leicester  House,  in  Leicester 
Fields,  was  still  standing,  but  in  1 8 1 1  it  had  been 
pulled  down.  Grosley  lodged  near  here,  and  his  details 
as  to  rent,  etc.,  are  interesting. 

He  says  that  the  house  of  his  landlord  was  small, 
only  three  storeys  high,  standing  on  an  irregular  patch 
of  ground,  and  rented  at  thirty-eight  guineas  a  year,  with 
an  additional  guinea  for  the  water  supply,  which  was 
distributed  three  times  weekly.  In  this  house  two  or 
three  little  rooms  on  the  first  storey,  very  slightly 
furnished,  were  let  to  him  at  a  guinea  a  week. 

The  touch  about  the  water  supply  points  to  another 
deficiency;  all  the  present  admirable  system  of  private 
taps  and  other  distributing  agencies,  also  the  network 
of  drains,  sewers,  etc.,  had  yet  to  be  evolved,  for  sanita- 
tion was  in  a  very  elementary  condition. 

Many  of  the  shops  were  still  distinguished  by  signs, 
for  though  the  custom  of  numbering,  in  place  of  signs, 
had  been  introduced,  it  had  made  way  but  slowly, 
thus  we  find  Jane  referring  to  "  The  tallow  chandler  is 
Penlington,  at  the  Crown  and  Beehive,  Charles  Street, 
Covent  Garden." 

It  would  be  particularly  pleasant  to  know  where  she 
did  her  own  shopping  in  which  she  was  femininely 
interested,  but  it  is  difficult  to  infer.  But  beyond  the 
fact  that  "  Layton  and  Shears  "  was  evidently  the  draper 
whom  she  patronised,  and  that  "  Layton  and  Shears  is 
Bedford  House,"  and  that  "  Fanny  bought  her  Irish  at 
Newton's  in  Leicester  Square,"  we  do  not  get  much 
detail.  But  we  glean  a  few  particulars  from  this  visit, 
and  one  of  a  later  date. 

Grafton    House   was   evidently   a   famous   place   for 


IN  LONDON  287 

shopping,  for  she  and  Fanny  frequently  paid  visits  there 
before  breakfast,  which  was,  however,  generally  much 
later  than  we  have  it,  perhaps  about  ten ;  Jane  says,  "  We 
must  have  been  three  quarters  of  an  hour  at  Grafton 
House,  Edward  sitting  by  all  the  time  with  wonderful 
patience.  There  Fanny  bought  the  net  for  Anna's 
gown,  and  a  beautiful  square  veil  for  herself  The 
edging  there  is  very  cheap.  I  was  tempted  by  some, 
and  I  bought  some  very  nice  plaiting  lace  at  three  and 
fourpence."  Again  she  says,  "  We  set  off  immediately 
after  breakfast,  and  must  have  reached  Grafton  House 
by  half  past  eleven  ;  but  when  we  entered  the  shop  the 
whole  counter  was  thronged  and  we  waited  full  half  an 
hour  before  we  could  be  attended  to." 

"  Fanny  was  much  pleased  with  the  stockings  she 
bought  of  Remmington,  silk  at  twelve  shillings,  cotton 
at  four  shillings  and  threepence ;  she  thinks  them  great 
bargains,  but  I  have  not  seen  them  yet,  as  my  hair  was 
dressing  when  the  man  and  the  stockings  came." 

It  was  quite  the  fashion  at  that  time  to  patronise 
Wedgwood,  whose  beautiful  china  was  much  in  vogue. 
The  original  founder  of  the  firm  had  died  in  1795,  and 
had  been  succeeded  by  his  son. 

"  We  then  went  to  Wedgwood's  where  my  brother 
and  Fanny  chose  a  dinner  set.  I  believe  the  pattern 
is  a  small  lozenge  in  purple,  between  lines  of  narrow 
gold,  and  it  is  to  have  the  crest." 

This  identical  dinner  set  is  still  in  the  possession  of 
the  family. 

Mrs.  Lybbe  Powys  also  mentions  Wedgwood.  "  In 
the  morning  we  went  to  London  a-shopping,  and  at 
Wedgwood's  as  usual  were  highly  entertained,  as  I  think 
no  shop  affords  so  great  a  variety." 

In  the  spring  of  18 13  Jane  was  again  in  London, 
and  visited  many  picture  galleries.     The  fact  of  having 


288  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Fanny  with  her  was  enough  to  enhance  greatly  her 
pleasure  in  these  sights. 

Mrs.  Henry  Austen  had  died  in  the  early  part  of 
this  year,  leaving  no  children.  Henry,  of  course,  eventu- 
ally married  again,  as  did  all  the  brothers  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Edward  Knight,  but  it  was  not  for  seven  years ; 
his  second  wife  was  Eleanor,  daughter  of  Henry  Jackson. 
The  house  in  Sloane  Street  was  given  up  after  his  wife's 
death,  and  he  went  to  Henrietta  Street  to  be  near  the 
bank.      It  was  here  Jane  came  to  him. 

A  collection  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds'  paintings  was 
being  exhibited  in  Pall  Mall,  though  the  great  painter 
himself  was  dead.  With  her  head  full  of  Pride  and 
Prejudice^  which  had  recently  been  published,  Jane  looks 
in  vain  to  discover  any  portrait  that  will  do  for  Elizabeth 
Bennet,  and  failing  to  find  one,  she  writes  playfully,  "  I 
can  only  imagine  that  Darcy  prizes  any  picture  of  her 
too  much  to  like  it  should  be  exposed  to  the  public  eye. 
I  can  imagine  he  would  have  that  sort  of  feeling — that 
mixture  of  love,  pride,  and  delicacy." 

She,  however,  is  more  successful  in  finding  one  of 
Jane  Bingley,  Elizabeth's  sister,  "  Mrs.  Bingley's  is 
exactly  herself — size,  shaped  face,  features  and  sweet- 
ness ;  there  never  was  a  greater  likeness.  She  is  dressed 
in  a  white  gown  with  green  ornaments,  which  convinces 
me  of  what  I  had  always  supposed,  that  green  was  a 
favourite  colour  with  her." 

Kensington  Gardens  were  at  that  time  the  resort  of 
many  of  the  fashionable ;  Jane  mentions  frequently 
walking  there,  though  we  doubt  if  she  were  attracted 
by  the  scenes  of  struggle  and  confusion  that  sometimes 
took  place. 

From  The  Times  of  March  28,  1794,  we  learn,  "the 
access  to  Kensington  Gardens  is  so  inconvenient  to  the 
visitors,  it  is  to  be  hoped  the  politeness  of  those  who 


IN  LONDON  289 

have  the  direction  of  it  will  induce  them  to  give  orders 
for  another  door  to  be  made  for  the  convenience  of  the 
public ;  one  door  for  admission,  and  another  for 
departure  would  prove  a  great  convenience  to  the 
visitors.  For  want  of  this  regulation  the  ladies  fre- 
quently have  their  clothes  torn  to  pieces,  and  are  much 
hurt  by  the  crowd  passing  different  ways." 

"  Two  ladies  were  lucky  enough  to  escape  through 
the  gate  of  Kensington  Gardens,  on  Sunday  last,  with 
only  a  broken  arm  each.  When  a  few  lives  have  been 
lost  perchance  then  a  door  or  two  may  be  made  for  the 
convenience  of  the  families  of  the  survivors." 

This  shows  that  there  was  a  wall  or  high  paling 
running  completely  round  the  Gardens. 

We  find  mentioned  also  the  seats  or  boxes  scattered 
up  and  down  the  grass-plots,  and  moving  on  a  pivot  to 
catch  the  sun,  a  convenience  it  would  be  well  to  restore. 

When  one  realises  the  crowds  that  habitually  fre- 
quented the  place  it  seems  as  if  there  must  be  some 
mistake  in  the  record  that  a  man  was  accidentally  shot 
in  1798  when  the  keepers  "were  hunting  foxes  in 
Kensington  Gardens  ! " 

The  Serpentine  was  made  out  of  the  Westbourne 
in  1730,  and  the  gardens  reclaimed,  having  been  up  to 
then  a  mere  wilderness.  During  the  reign  of  George  II. , 
the  Gardens  were  only  open  to  the  public  on  Saturdays, 
but  when  the  Court  ceased  to  reside  at  Kensington 
Palace,  they  were  open  during  the  spring  and  summer. 
The  Broad  Walk  seems  to  have  been  the  most  fashion- 
able promenade,  and  doubtless  there  was  frequently  to 
be  seen  here  some  such  crowd  as  that  described  by  Tickell, 
when 

'*  Each  walk  with  robes  of  various  dyes  bespread 
Seems  from  afar  a  moving  tulip  bed, 
Where  rich  brocades  and  glossy  damasks  glow, 
And  chintz,  the  rival  of  the  showery  bow." 

19 


290  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

During  most  of  her  visits  to  London,  Jane  went 
several  times  to  the  theatre,  chiefly  to  Covent  Garden 
and  Drury  Lane,  which  were  then  considered  far  the 
best,  though  there  were  many  others  existing,  among 
which  were  the  Adelphi,  which  had  been  opened  in 
1 806 ;  Astley's  Amphitheatre  for  the  exhibition  of 
trained  horses,  which  was  very  popular ;  the  Haymarket, 
or  Little  Theatre,  taken  down  in  1820;  the  Lyceum, 
which  was  then  the  opera  house,  having  been  enlarged 
in  1 809  ;  the  Olympic,  which  belonged  to  Astley,  and 
where  there  was  the  same  style  of  show  as  at  his 
other  theatre ;  the  Pantheon,  Oxford  Street,  chiefly  for 
masquerades  and  concerts,  reopened  as  an  opera  house 
in  18 12  and  sold  up  in  18 14;  the  Queen's,  near 
Tottenham  Court  Road,  not  much  known  or  frequented ; 
a  description  which  also  applies  to  the  old  Royalty  in 
Well  Street  and  others.  Among  places  of  amusement 
must  also  be  enumerated  the  Italian  Opera  House, 
which  stood  where  His  Majesty's  Theatre  is  at  present. 
It  was  opened  in  1705,  burnt  down  in  1789,  and 
rebuilt  the  following  year. 

Of  the  two  principal  theatres,  Covent  Garden  had 
been  opened  by  Rich  in  1737,  it  was  afterwards  greatly 
enlarged  and  improved,  and  in  1803  John  Kemble 
became  proprietor.  Only  five  years  later  it  was  burnt 
to  the  ground.  The  new  theatre,  built  on  the  same 
site,  was  reopened  in  1809,  when  the  prices  were 
raised  :  they  had  been,  boxes  4s. ;  pit  2s  6d. ;  first  gallery 
IS.  6d. ;  upper  gallery  is.  There  were  then  no  stalls, 
and  persons  of  "  quality "  had  to  go  to  boxes.  The 
prices  demanded  by  Kemble  were:  boxes  7s.;  pit  3s.; 
gallery  2s. ;  while  the  upper  gallery  remained  the  same. 
A  fearful  riot  broke  out  on  the  first  night  of  the  new 
prices,  and  the  mob  would  hear  no  explanations,  listen 
to   no   reason.     The   members   who   banded   themselves 


IN  LONDON  291 

together  adopted  the  name  of  O.P.,  for  Old  Prices,  and 
would  not  allow  the  play  to  proceed,  making  an 
indescribable  din  with  whistles,  cat-calls,  and  shrieks. 
After  weeks  of  dispute,  a  compromise  was  arrived  at, 
the  higher  price  being  retained  in  the  case  of  the 
boxes. 

At  an  earlier  date  some  of  the  audience  had  actually 
been  seated  on  the  stage  among  the  performers ;  and 
there  were  still  in  Jane's  time  boxes  on  the  stage, 
but  outside  the  curtain.  We  can  see  this  in  the  illustra- 
tion of  the  Little  Theatre,  Haymarket,  where  the  pit 
comes  right  up  to  the  footlights,  there  being  no  stalls, 
and  the  patrons  of  the  pit  are  seated  on  backless 
benches  not  divided  into  compartments. 

We  gather  from  contemporary  literature  that  it 
was  a  common  thing  to  go  to  rehearsals  of  the  per- 
formances at  the  opera,  and  that  there  was  a  coffee- 
room  attached,  which  formed  at  least  as  great  an 
attraction  to  the  idle  rich,  who  loved  to  chatter  sweet 
nothings,  as  the  piece  itself. 

Kemble  was  the  brother  of  Mrs.  Siddons,  and  did 
as  much  as  any  man  for  the  improvement  of  the  stage ; 
when  he  first  began  his  career,  he  was  struck  by  the 
ludicrous  conventionality  of  the  dresses,  which  were  as 
much  a  matter  of  form  as  the  custom  of  representing 
statues  of  living  men  "  in  Roman  habit."  He  and  the 
great  Garrick  killed  this  foolish  custom. 

The  conventionalism  in  matters  of  dress  upon  the 
stage  is  noticed  by  the  ubiquitous  M.  Grosley  thus — 

"  On  the  stage  the  principal  actresses  drag  long 
trains  after  them,  and  are  followed  by  a  little  boy  in 
quality  of  a  train-bearer,  who  is  as  inseparable  from 
them  as  the  shadow  from  the  body.  This  page  keeps 
his  eye  constantly  upon  the  train  of  the  princess,  sets 
it   to   rights   when   it   is    ever    so    little    ruffled    or   dis- 


292  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

ordered,  and  is  seen  to  run  after  it  with  all  his  might, 
when  a  violent  emotion  makes  the  princess  hurry  from 
one  side  of  the  stage  to  another." 

Drury  Lane  Theatre  has  an  older  record  than 
Covent  Garden.  It  dates  from  1663,  and  in  1682 
was  the  only  theatre  in  London,  being  considered 
sufficient  for  the  joint  representations  of  the  two  old 
established  companies  of  players,  The  King's  and  The 
Duke's.  It  was  many  times  rebuilt,  being  more  than 
once  destroyed  by  fire ;  in  fact  nothing  is  more  striking 
in  the  annals  of  theatres  than  the  astonishing  number 
of  times  nearly  every  theatre  has  been  burnt  down. 
The  third  house  was  burnt  in  February  1809,  and  its 
successor  opened  in  18 12,  with  a  prologue  by  Lord 
Byron.  During  Jane  Austen's  first  recorded  visit  to 
London,  therefore,  it  would  be  in  course  of  rebuilding, 
though  on  subsequent  visits  it  would  be  very  fashion- 
able, being  new. 

Just  as  in  novels  during  the  lifetime  of  Jane  Austen, 
there  was  an  enormous  change  from  the  grandiloquent 
and  conventional,  to  the  natural  and  simple,  and  the 
same  in  poetry,  so  it  was  on  the  stage.  The  absurd 
conventionalism,  the  unsuitable  dresses,  no  matter  what, 
so  long  as  they  were  grand,  were  exchanged  for  easy 
declamation  and  natural  attitude. 

Garrick,  as  we  have  said,  was  one  of  the  first  actors 
to  begin  this  movement,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  he 
won  the  applause  of  London,  and  that  crowds  came  to 
hear  him,  so  that  in  1744,  when  he  was  to  act  Hamlet, 
servants  were  sent  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  to 
keep  places  for  their  employers,  for  there  were  then  no 
such  things  as  reserved  seats.  Fine  actors  and 
actresses  abounded  in  the  eighteenth  century ;  Mrs. 
Siddons,  who  was  born  in  1755,  did  not  give  her  farewell 
performance   in    Lady   Macbeth    until    1812,  and   lived 


THE   REV.    GEORGE  CRABBE 


^^^mtk 


IN  LONDON  293 

long   after.     Both    Mrs.    Oldfield    and   Peg  Woffington, 
however,  had  passed  away  before  Jane's  time. 

It  was  an  age  when  people  were  wild  about  acting, 
and  private  theatres  were  a  common  hobby,  many  a 
young  spark  ruined  himself  in  this  extravagance,  and 
The  Times  of  1798  mentions  that  there  were  no  fewer 
than  six  private  theatres  in  London  and  Westminster. 

The  plays  commented  upon  in  Jane's  letters  seem 
to  us  very  dull,  "  Fanny  and  the  two  little  girls  are 
gone  to  take  places  for  to-night  at  Covent  Garden ; 
Clandestine  Marriage  and  Midas.  The  latter  will  be 
a  fine  show  for  L[izzie]  and  M[arianne].  They  revelled 
last  night  in  Don  Juan  whom  we  left  in  hell  at  half 
past  eleven.  We  had  Scaramouch  and  a  ghost,  and 
were  delighted.  I  speak  of  them ;  my  delight  was 
very  tranquil,  and  the  rest  of  us  were  sober  minded. 
Don  Juan  was  the  last  of  three  musical  things.  Five 
Hours  at  Bi'ighton^  in  three  acts,  and  the  Beehive  rather 
less  flat  and  trumpery." 

"  We  had  good  places  in  the  box  next  the  stage 
box.  ...  I  was  particularly  disappointed  at  seeing 
nothing  of  Mr.  Crabbe.  I  felt  sure  of  him  when  I 
saw  the  boxes  were  fitted  up  with  crimson  velvet. 
The  new  Mr.  Terry  was  Lord  Ogleby,  and  Henry 
thinks  he  may  do,  but  there  was  no  acting  more  than 
moderate." 

In    the    following    year,    18 14,    her    comments    are, 

"  We  went  to  the  play  again   last  night.     The  Farmer  s 

Wife  is  a  musical  thing  in  three  acts,  and,  as   Edward 

was  steady  in  not  staying  for  anything  more,  we  were 

home  before  ten.      Fanny  and    Mr.  J.   P.  are  delighted 

with  Miss  S all  that   I    am    sensible   of  ...   is  a 

pleasing  person  and  no  skill  in  acting.  We  had 
Mathews,  Liston,  and  Enery ;  of  course  some  amuse- 
ment."    **  Prepare    for   a   play    the    very    first    evening, 


294  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

I  rather  think  Covent  Garden,  to  see  Young  in 
Richard^ 

Miss  S was   probably  Miss   Stephens,  a  singer 

who  made  her  debut  in  1 8 1 2  in  concerts,  and  appeared 
on  the  stage  at  Covent  Garden  in  i  8 1 3  ;  she  afterwards 
became  Countess  of  Essex.  She  was  considered  "  un- 
surpassed for  her  rendering  of  ballads."  Jane  mentions 
her  again — 

"  We  are  to  see  the  Devil  to  Pay  to-night.  I  expect 
to  be  very  much  amused.  Excepting  Miss  Stephens,  I 
daresay  Artaxerxes  will  be  very  tiresome." 

The  Mathews  she  mentions  was  Charles  Mathews 
senior. 

Liston  was  at  first  master  of  St.  Martin's  Grammar 
School,  Leicester  Square,  but  became  a  popular  actor, 
and  at  the  time  of  her  writing  was  appearing  at  Covent 
Garden.  But  by  far  the  best  actor  she  records  having 
seen  is  Kean.  "  We  were  quite  satisfied  with  Kean,  I 
cannot  imagine  better  acting,  but  the  part  was  too  short 
and  excepting  him  and  Miss  Smith, — and  she  did  not 
quite  answer  my  expectation, — the  parts  were  ill-filled 
and  the  play  heavy.  We  were  too  much  tired  for  the 
whole  of  Illusion  {Nourjahad),  which  has  three  acts  ;  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  finery  and  dancing  in  it,  but  I  think 
little  merit.  Elliston  was  Nourjahad,  but  I  think  it  is 
a  solemn  sort  of  part,  not  at  all  calculated  for  his  powers. 
There  was  nothing  of  the  best  Elliston  about  him,  I 
might  not  have  known  him  but  for  his  voice,"  and  later, 
"  I  shall  like  to  see  Kean  again  excessively,  and  to  see 
him  with  you  too.  It  appeared  to  me  as  if  there  were 
no  fault  in  him  anywhere ;  and  in  his  scene  with  Tubal 
there  was  exquisite  acting." 

In  another  place  she  says  that  so  great  was  the  rage 
for  seeing  Kean  that  only  a  third  or  fourth  row  could  be 
got,  and  that  "  he  is  more  admired  than  ever." 


IN  LONDON  295 

This  is  very  different  from  Miss  Mitford's  account  of 
her  first  impressions  of  the  great  actor :  "  Well,  I  went 
to  see  Mr.  Kean  and  was  thoroughly  disgusted.  This 
monarch  of  the  stage  is  a  little  insignificant  man,  slightly 
deformed,  strongly  ungraceful,  seldom  pleasing  the  eye, 
still  seldomer  satisfying  the  ear — with  a  voice  between 
grunting  and  croaking,  a  perpetual  hoarseness  which 
suffocates  his  words,  and  a  vulgarity  of  manner  which 
his  admirers  are  pleased  to  call  nature  ...  his  acting 
will  always  be,  if  not  actually  insupportable,  yet  unequal, 
disappointing  and  destructive  of  all  illusion." 

But,  as  in  her  account  of  Darcy  and  Elizabeth,  we 
have  seen  that  Miss  Mitford  preferred  the  stereotyped 
and  conventional  to  the  natural,  of  which  Jane  Austen 
was  so  ardent  an  admirer,  therefore  we  cannot  feel  much 
surprise  at  the  difference  between  the  two  opinions. 

Jane  evidently  enjoyed  good  acting,  but  was  critical 
and  not  a  great  lover  of  the  drama  unless  it  was  very 
well  done ;  this  we  might  expect,  for  naturalness  was  her 
admiration,  and  naturalness  she  would  only  find  in  first- 
rate  performers  such  as  Kean. 


CHAPTER   XVII 
FANNY  AND  ANNA 

THE  nephews  and  nieces  at  Godmersham  were 
rapidly  growing  into  men  and  women.  Edward 
and  George  on  leaving  Winchester  went  to  Oxford ;  the 
luxurious  way  in  which  they  were  brought  up  evidently 
sometimes  annoyed  their  aunt,  who  was  accustomed  to  see 
the  younger  generation  more  repressed;  she  says  of  them — 

"  As  I  wrote  of  my  nephews  with  a  little  bitterness 
in  my  last,  I  think  it  particularly  incumbent  on  me  to 
do  them  justice  now,  and  I  have  great  pleasure  in 
saying  they  were  both  at  the  Sacrament  yesterday ;  now 
these  two  boys,  who  are  out  with  the  foxhounds,  will 
come  home  and  disgust  me  again  by  some  habit  of 
luxury  or  some  proof  of  sporting  mania." 

While  Jane  was  at  Godmersham  in  1 8 1 3,  her  brother 
Charles,  his  wife,  and  little  daughters  were  there  too. 
It  was  the  custom  then — though  not  an  invariable  one 
but  a  matter  of  inclination — for  a  captain  in  the  Navy 
to  take  his  wife  and  children  voyaging  with  him.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  in  Persuasion  Captain  Wentworth 
says  he  hates  "  to  hear  of  women  on  board,"  and  Mrs. 
Croft,  whose  husband  is  an  Admiral,  declares  "  women 
may  be  as  comfortable  on  board  as  in  the  best  house 
in  England.  I  believe  I  have  lived  as  much  on  board 
as  most  women  and  I  know  nothing  superior  to  the 
accommodation  of  a  man-of-war." 

296 


FANNY  AND  ANNA  297 

Charles  Austen's  wife  and  children  seem  to  have 
spent  a  good  deal  of  time  on  board  with  him ;  and 
Cassy,  the  eldest  girl,  a  delicate  quiet  child,  suffered  from 
seasickness  during  rough  weather.  Jane  says  affection- 
ately of  her,  "  Poor  little  love  !  I  wish  she  were  not  so 
very  Palmery,  but  it  seems  stronger  than  ever.  I  never 
knew  a  wife's  family  features  have  such  undue  influence." 
Cassy  was  not  quite  happy  among  her  cousins,  "  they  are 
too  many  and  too  boisterous  for  her."  Jane  speaks  of 
her  and  her  mother  as  being  "  their  own  nice  selves, 
Fanny  looking  as  neat  and  white  this  morning  as  possible, 
and  Charles  all  affectionate,  placid,  quiet,  cheerful  good 
humour." 

Alas,  in  September  of  the  following  year  Mrs. 
Charles  Austen  died  in  childbirth.  Her  husband,  who 
was  a  very  domestic  man,  felt  the  loss  severely ;  subse- 
quently he  married  her  sister  Harriet,  and  became  the 
father  of  two  boys  in  addition  to  his  little  daughters. 

In  1 8 14,  Edward  Knight  was  annoyed  by  a  claimant 
to  the  Chawton  estate,  and  it  appears  from  what  Miss 
Mitford  says  on  the  subject  in  her  letters,  that  this  was 
in  consequence  of  old  Mr.  Knight's  not  having  fulfilled 
some  technical  point  in  connection  with  the  property. 
As  Chawton  was  v/orth  about  ;^5ooo  a  year,  the  matter 
was  serious,  and  that  it  was  not  altogether  a  fancy  originat- 
ing in  the  mind  of  the  claimant,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
after  protracted  discussions,  Edward  Knight  did,  in  1 8 1 7, 
pay  him  a  sum  of  money  to  settle  the  matter. 

We  have  no  letters  of  Jane's  before  November  i  8 1  5  ; 
but  she  was  probably  at  home  at  Chawton  with  her 
sister  and  mother,  when  the  news  that  Napoleon  had 
escaped  from  Elba  burst  upon  the  world  like  a  thunder- 
clap !  The  call  to  arms  rang  throughout  Europe,  and 
then  followed  the  terrible  Hundred  Days  which  ended 
on  June  the  eighteenth  with  the  Battle  of  Waterloo. 


298  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Alison  in  his  Epitome  of  the  History  of  Europe  says, 
"  No  one  who  was  of  an  age  to  understand  what  was 
going  on  can  ever  forget  the  entrancing  joy  which 
thrilled  through  the  British  heart  at  the  news  of  Waterloo. 
The  thanks  of  Parliament  were  voted  to  Wellington  and 
his  army ;  a  medal  struck  by  government  was  given 
to  every  officer  and  soldier  who  had  borne  arms  on 
that  eventful  day;  and  not  less  than  ;£" 5 00,000  was 
raised  by  voluntary  subscriptions  for  those  wounded  in 
the  fight,  and  the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  fallen." 

We  wonder  if  the  household  at  Chawton  contributed 
its  mite  among  the  rest  ?  Jane's  heart  surely  must  have 
thrilled  in  unison  with  those  of  her  countrymen  ! 

Louis  XVIII.  was  once  more  placed  on  the  throne  of 
his  fathers,  and  Napoleon  was  sent  to  St.  Helena.  He 
arrived  there  on  November  the  sixteenth,  and  by  that 
date  Jane  was  again  in  London  nursing  her  brother 
Henry. 

Between  18 14  and  18 16  many  charming  letters 
passed  between  Jane  and  her  young  niece  Fanny,  and 
as  these  contain  more  of  the  personal  element  than  any 
of  the  others  that  have  been  preserved,  they  are  among 
the  most  interesting  of  all.  At  the  beginning  of  these 
letters  Fanny  was  twenty-one,  which  in  those  days  was 
considered  quite  a  staid  age  for  an  unmarried  girl.  In 
one  of  her  letters  she  tells  her  aunt  that  her  feelings  had 
cooled  towards  someone,  who  at  one  time  she  had 
thought  of  marrying. 

Jane's  answer  is  full  of  sense  and  sympathy,  and 
gives  us  much  insight  into  her  own  views  on  the 
relations  of  the  sexes.  "  What  strange  creatures  we 
are,"  she  writes,  "  it  seems  as  if  your  being  secure  of 
him  had  made  you  indifferent.  .  .  .  There  was  a  little 
disgust  I  suspect  at  the  races,  and  I  do  not  wonder 
at  it.      His  expressions  then  would  not  do  for  one  who 


FANNY  AND  ANNA  299 

had  rather  more  acuteness,  penetration,  and  taste,  than 
love,  which  was  your  case,  and  yet  after  all  I  am 
surprised  that  the  change  in  the  feelings  should  be  so 
great.  He  is  just  what  he  ever  was,  only  more  evidently 
and  uniformly  devoted  to  you  ,  .  . 

"  Oh  dear  Fanny  !  Your  mistake  has  been  one 
that  thousands  of  women  fall  into.  He  was  the  first 
young  man  who  attached  himself  to  you.  That 
was  the  charm,  and  most  powerful  it  is.  .  .  .  Upon  the 
whole  what  is  to  be  done?  You  have  no  inclination 
for  any  other  person.  His  situation  in  life,  family, 
friends  and  above  all  his  character,  his  uncommonly 
amiable  mind,  strict  principles,  just  notions,  good  habits, 
all  that  you  know  so  well  how  to  value,  all  that  is  really 
of  the  first  importance,  pleads  his  cause  most  strongly. 
You  have  no  doubt  of  his  having  superior  abilities,  he 
has  proved  it  at  the  University,  he  is,  I  dare  say,  such 
a  scholar  as  your  agreeable  idle  brothers  would  ill  bear 
a  comparison  with.  The  more  I  write  about  him  the 
more  strongly  I  feel  the  desirableness  of  your  growing 
in  love  with  him  again.  .  .  .  There  are  such  beings  in  the 
world,  perhaps  one  in  a  thousand,  as  the  creature  you 
and  I  should  think  perfection,  where  grace  and  spirit 
are  united  to  worth,  where  the  manners  are  equal  to 
the  heart  and  understanding,  but  such  a  person  may  not 
come  in  your  way,  or,  if  he  does,  he  may  not  be  the 
eldest  son  of  a  man  of  fortune,  the  near  relation  of  your 
own  particular  friend  and  belonging  to  your  own  country. 
.  .  .  And  now  my  dear  Fanny,  having  written  so  much 
on  one  side  of  the  question  I  shall  turn  round  and  entreat 
you  not  to  commit  yourself  farther,  and  not  to  think 
of  accepting  him  unless  you  really  do  like  him. 
Anything  is  to  be  preferred  or  endured  rather  than 
marrying  without  affection ;  and  if  his  deficiencies  of 
manner  strike  you  more  than  all  his  good  qualities,   if 


300  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

you  continue  to  think  strongly  of  them,  give  him  up 
at  once  .   .  . 

"  When  I  consider  how  few  young  men  you  have 
yet  seen  much  of;  how  capable  you  are  of  being 
really  in  love  ;  and  how  full  of  temptation  the  next  six 
or  seven  years  of  your  life  will  probably  be,  I  cannot 
wish  you,  with  your  present  very  cool  feelings,  to  devote 
yourself  in  honour  to  him.  It  is  very  true  that  you 
never  may  attach  another  man  his  equal  altogether ; 
but  if  that  other  man  has  the  power  of  attaching  you 
more^  he  will  be  in  }  our  eyes  the  most  perfect. 

"  You  are  inimitable,  irresistible.  You  are  the 
delight  of  my  life.  Such  letters,  such  entertaining 
letters  as  you  have  lately  sent !  such  a  description 
of  your  queer  little  heart  !  such  a  lovely  display 
of  what  imagination  does !  .  .  .  You  are  so  odd,  and 
all  the  time  so  perfectly  natural,  so  peculiar  in  your- 
self, and  yet  so  like  everybody  else.  It  is  very,  very 
gratifying  to  me  to  know  you  so  intimately.  .  .  .  Oh 
what  a  loss  it  will  be  when  you  are  married  !  You 
are  too  agreeable  in  your  single  state.  I  shall  hate  you 
when  your  delicious  play  of  mind  is  all  settled  down 
into  conjugal  and  maternal  affections  ... 

"  And  yet  I  do  wish  you  to  marry  very  much  be- 
cause I  know  you  will  never  be  happy  till  you  are,"  and 
later  on,  apropos  of  someone  else,  she  adds :  "  Single 
women  have  a  dreadful  propensity  for  being  poor,  which 
is  one  very  strong  argument  in  favour  of  matrimony, 
but  I  need  not  dwell  on  such  arguments  with  you,  pretty 
dear.  To  you  I  shall  say,  as  I  have  often  said  before, 
Do  not  be  in  a  hurry,  the  right  man  will  come  at  last ; 
you  will  in  the  course  of  the  next  two  or  three  years 
meet  with  somebody  m.ore  generally  unexceptionable 
than  anyone  you  have  yet  known,  who  will  love  you 
as    warmly    as    possible,    and    who    will    so   completely 


FANNY  AND  ANNA  301 

attract    you  that  you    will   feel    you  never  really  loved 
before." 

But  it  was  not  until  1820  that  Fanny  married,  as 
his  second  wife,  the  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Knatchbull, 
9th  Bt.,  who  had  already  five  sons  and  one  daughter,  the 
eldest  boy  being  twelve  years  old.  Six  years  after  the 
marriage,  the  daughter  married  Fanny's  brother  Edward. 
She  herself  lived  to  nearly  ninety,  and  was  the  mother 
of  five  sons  and  four  daughters,  and  in  1880  her  eldest 
son  was  created  Baron  Brabourne ;  and  he,  as  has  been 
already  stated,  was  the  editor  of  the  volumes  of  Letters, 

But  Jane's  sympathetic  advice  was  called  for  by 
more  than  one  niece  passing  through  the  difficult  time 
between  girlhood  and  womanhood ;  Anna,  her  eldest 
brother  James's  daughter,  was  a  frequent  visitor  at 
Chawton,  and  though  she  does  not  seem  ever  to  have 
taken  quite  the  same  position  in  her  aunt's  affections 
as  Fanny  did,  she  was  yet  a  lively,  amusing,  pleasant 
girl. 

She  had  evidently  determined  to  follow  in  her  aunt's 
footsteps,  as  was  most  natural,  and  had  attempted  to 
write  a  novel  herself;  Jane's  treatment  of  her  tentative 
efforts  was  very  kind,  some  of  the  letters  to  the  would- 
be  authoress  are  preserved,  and  nothing  could  be  gentler. 
"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  sending  me 
your  MS.  It  has  entertained  me  extremely ;  indeed  all 
of  us.  I  read  it  aloud  to  your  grandmamma  and  aunt 
Cass,  and  we  were  all  very  pleased.  The  spirit  does 
not  drop  at  all.  Now  we  have  finished  the  second 
book  or  rather  the  fifth :  Susan  is  a  nice  animated 
little  creature,  but  St.  Julian  is  the  delight  of  our  lives. 
He  is  quite  interesting.  The  whole  of  his  break  off 
with  Lady  Helena  is  very  well  done."  She  then  goes 
in  great  detail  into  all  the  characters,  making  various 
suggestions :    "  You  are  but    now  coming  to   the   heart 


302  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

and  beauty  of  your  story.  Until  the  heroine  grows 
up  the  fun  must  be  imperfect,  but  I  expect  a  great  deal 
of  entertainment  from  the  next  three  or  four  books, 
and  I  hope  you  will  not  resent  these  remarks  by  sending 
me  no  more." 

Then  she  gives  one  or  two  characteristic  touches. 

"  Devereux  Forester's  being  ruined  by  his  vanity 
is  extremely  good,  but  I  wish  you  would  not  let  him 
plunge  into  a  '  vortex  of  dissipation.'  I  do  not  object  to 
the  thing  but  cannot  bear  the  expression ;  it  is  such 
thorough  novel  slang,  and  so  old  that  I  daresay  Adam 
met  with  it  in  the  first  novel  he  opened." 

In  1 8 14,  Anna  was  engaged  to  Benjamin  Lefroy, 
whom  she  married  in  November.  After  her  marriage 
she  first  lived  at  Hendon,  but  in  the  following  year 
she  and  her  husband  took  a  small  house  near  Alton,  so 
that  she  was  within  a  walk  of  Chawton.  She  still 
went  on  with  her  novel-writing.  And  Jane  continued 
to  criticise  her  progress — 

"  We  have  no  great  right  to  wonder  at  his  [Benjamin 
Lefroy's]  not  valuing  the  name  of  Progillian.  That  is 
a  source  of  delight  which  even  he  can  hardly  be  quite 
competent  to." 

"  St.  Julian's  history  was  quite  a  surprise  to  me. 
You  had  not  very  long  known  it  yourself  I  suspect. 
His  having  been  in  love  with  the  aunt  gives  Cecilia  an 
additional  interest  with  him.  I  like  the  idea,  a  very 
proper  compliment  to  an  aunt !  I  rather  imagine  indeed 
that  nieces  are  seldom  chosen  but  out  of  compliment  to 
some  aunt  or  other.  I  daresay  Ben  was  in  love  with 
me  once,  and  would  never  have  thought  of  you  if  he 
had  not  supposed  me  dead  of  scarlet  fever." 

Anna  became  the  mother  of  six  daughters  and  one 
son,  and  lived  until  1872. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  PRINCE  REGENT  AND  EMMA 

IN  October  1815,  Henry  Austen  was  dangerously  ill. 
He  had  by  this  time  moved  into  another  house, 
which  was  in  Hans  Place,  quite  near  his  former  residence 
in  Sloane  Street,  though  the  connection  with  the  bank  in 
Henrietta  Street  was  still  kept  up.  Both  his  sisters 
were  with  him  at  first,  and  an  express  was  sent  for  his 
brother  Edward,  so  critical  was  his  state  considered  to 
be,  but  he  rallied,  and  afterwards,  when  he  was  out  of 
danger,  Edward  and  Cassandra  went  on  to  Chawton, 
and  Jane  was  left  to  nurse  him  back  to  complete  health. 
The  ideas  of  medicine  at  that  time  were  primitive,  and 
consisted  chiefly  of  unmitigated  blood-letting,  an  extra- 
ordinary custom,  which  must  have  been  responsible  for 
many  a  weak  body's  giving  up  the  ghost. 

This  incredible  system  is  exemplified  in  the  following 
anecdote.  When  Mrs.  Lybbe  Powys'  son  Philip  had  a 
coach  accident  she  comments  on  his  treatment  thus  : 
**  He  has  not,  since  the  accident,  tasted  a  bit  of  meat,  or 
drunk  a  drop  of  wine,  had  a  perpetual  blister  ever  since, 
and  blooded  every  three  or  four  days  for  many  weeks." 
Well  may  the  editor  of  the  book  remark,  "  Truly  Mr. 
Powys'  enduring  this  treatment  was  a  survival  of  the 
fittest ! " 

There  was  then  a  wide  distinction  between  the 
Physician  and  the  Apothecary,  which  may  be  noticed  in 

303 


304  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Jane's  playful  repudiation :  "  You  seem  to  be  under  a 
mistake  as  to  Mr.  H.  you  call  him  an  apothecary.  He 
is  no  apothecary,  he  has  never  been  an  apothecary ;  there 
is  not  an  apothecary  in  the  neighbourhood — the  only 
inconvenience  of  the  situation  perhaps — but  so  it  is,  we 
have  not  a  medical  man  within  reach.  He  is  a  Haden, 
nothing  but  a  Haden,  a  sort  of  wonderful  nondescript 
creature  on  two  legs,  something  between  a  man  and  an 
angel,  but  without  the  least  spice  of  an  apothecary.  He 
is  perhaps  the  only  person  not  an  apothecary  here- 
abouts." 

^s  it  happened,  this  nursing  of  her  brother  brought 
her  into  public  notice,  for  the  physician  who  attended 
Henry  Austen  was  also  a  physician  of  the  Prince 
jR^egent's.  At  that  time,  though  Jane's  name  had  not 
appeared  on  the  title-page  of  her  books,  there  was  no 
longer  any  secret  as  to  the  writer's  identity,  and  the 
doctor  told  her  one  day  that  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who 
had  been  made  Regent  in  i8i  i,  was  a  great  admirer  of 
her  novels ;  this  is  the  only  good  thing  one  ever  heard 
of  George  IV.,  and  one  cannot  help  doubting  the  fact ; 
it  is  hard  to  imagine  his  reading  any  book,  however 
delightful.  The  physician,  however,  added  that  the 
Prince  read  the  novels  often,  and  kept  a  set  in  every  one 
of  his  residences,  further,  he  himself  had  told  the  Prince 
that  the  author  was  in  London,  and  he  had  desired  his 
librarian  to  wait  upon  her.  The  librarian,  Mr.  Clarke, 
duly  came,  and  Jane  was  invited  to  go  to  Carlton  House, 
but  it  does  not  seem  that  the  Prince  himself  deigned  to 
bestow  any  personal  notice  upon  her,  or  that  he  even 
saw  her ;  she  saw  Mr.  Clarke  and  Mr.  Clarke  alone,  and 
therefore  one  begins  to  feel  tolerably  sure  that  it  was 
from  Mr.  Clarke  the  whole  thing  originated.  This  worthy 
man  deserves  some  credit,  but  that  he  was  lacking  in 
any  sense  of  humour  or  knowledge  of  life  was  evidenced 


u 

o 


THE  PRINCE  REGExNT  AND  EMMA         305 

by  his  ponderous  suggestions  as  to  future  books,  one  of 
which  was  that  Jane  should  "  delineate  in  some  future 
work  the  habits  of  life,  character,  and  enthusiasm  of  a 
clergyman,  who  should  pass  his  time  between  the  metro- 
polis and  the  country,  who  should  be  something  like 
Beattie's  minstrel " ;  and  when  this  was  rejected,  "  an 
historical  romance  illustrative  of  the  august  house  of 
Cobourg,  would  just  now  be  very  interesting."  Jane's 
reply  is  full  of  good  sense  and  excellently  expressed. 
"  You  are  very  kind  in  your  hints  as  to  the  sort  of  com- 
position which  might  recommend  me  at  present,  and  I 
am  fully  sensible  that  an  historical  romance,  founded  on 
the  House  of  Cobourg,  might  be  much  more  to  the 
purpose  of  profit  or  popularity  than  such  pictures  of 
domestic  life  in  country  villages  as  I  deal  in.  But  I 
could  no  more  write  a  romance  than  an  epic  poem.  I 
could  not  sit  seriously  down  to  write  a  serious  romance 
under  any  other  motive  than  to  save  my  life ;  and  if  it 
were  indispensable  for  me  to  keep  it  up,  and  never  relax 
intvj  laughing  at  myself  or  at  other  people,  I  am  sure  I 
should  be  hung  before  I  had  finished  the  first  chapter. 
I  must  keep  to  my  own  style  and  go  on  in  my  own 
way ;  and  though  I  may  never  succeed  again  in  that,  I 
am  convinced  that  I  should  totally  fail  in  any  other." 
(Mr.  Austen- Leigh's  Memoir.)  She,  however,  gladly 
agreed  to  dedicate  her  next  work  to  His  Royal  High- 
ness. The  next  work  was  Emma,  then  nearly  ready  for 
publication.  Mr.  Murray  was  the  publisher,  and  the 
dedication,  which  had  been  graciously  accepted,  appeared 
on  the  title-page. 

The  state  of  the  Court  at  that  time  is  abundantly 
pictured  in  numerous  memoirs,  diaries,  journals,  etc.,  not 
the  least  among  which  is  that  of  Miss  Burney,  Jane's 
contemporary  and  sister  authoress.  George  ill.  had 
one  very  striking  virtue — striking  in  his  time  and  position 
20 


3o6  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

and  especially  in  his  family — he  seems  to  have  lived  a 
good  domestic  life.  He  had  been  married  young,  to  a 
princess  who  had  no  beauty  to  recommend  her,  and  his 
first  feelings  on  seeing  her  had  been  those  of  disappoint- 
ment, but  being  a  sensible,  kindly  manj  he  had  soon 
learnt  to  value  the  good  heart  and  nature  of  the  girl  who 
had  come  so  far  to  marry  a  man  she  had  never  seen. 
Their  numerous  family  linked  them  together,  and  though 
the  sons  were  a  constant  source  of  trouble  and  notorious 
in  their  wild  lives,  the  tribe  of  princesses  seem  to  have 
endeared  themselves  to  everyone  by  their  gracious 
manners.  Poor  old  George  himself,  with  his  well-meant, 
"  What  ?  What  ?  What  ?  "  and  his  homely  ways, 
could  never  offend  intentionally,  and  the  "  sweet  queen," 
as  Miss  Burney  so  fulsomely  calls  her,  though  fully  con- 
scious of  her  own  dignity,  and  not  disposed  to  make  a 
fuss  about  the  hardships  inseparable  from  the  position  of 
her  waiting- women,  was  yet  at  the  bottom  kind-hearted 
too. 

As  for  most  of  the  princes,  however,  their  ways  were 
a  byword  and  scandal.  In  every  contemporary  book  we 
read  of  their  being  drunk,  and  otherwise  disgracing 
themselves. 

The  Prince  of  Wales  and  the  Duke  of  York  were  the 
worst,  and  the  Dukes  of  Clarence  and  Kent  seem  to 
have  been  the  best.  At  Brighton,  where  the  Prince  of 
Wales  had  established  his  pavilion,  orgies  of  drink  and 
coarseness  went  on  that  disgusted  even  those  accustomed 
to  very  free  manners ;  the  princes  appeared  in  public 
with  their  mistresses,  and  reeled  into  public  ball-rooms. 
The  Prince's  treatment  of  his  own  ill-used  wife  is  well 
known.  Purely  from  caprice,  and  without  a  shadow  of 
justification,  she,  the  mother  of  his  only  child  Princess 
Charlotte,  was  dismissed  from  her  home,  and  forbidden 
any  of  the  privileges  or  respect  due  to  her  rank,  a  course 


THE  PRINCE  REGENT  AND  EMMA        307 

of  treatment  which  made  England  despised  among  the 
nations.      Of  the  other  two  we  read  : — 

"  The  duke  of  Kent  is  certainly  one  of  the  most 
steady  looking  of  the  princes,  perhaps  he  may  be  heavy, 
but  he  has  unquestionably  the  most  of  a  Man  of  Business 
in  his  Appearance." 

And  Horace  Walpole  says — 

"  My  neighbour,  the  Duke  of  Clarence,  is  so  popular, 
that  if  Richmond  were  a  borough,  and  he  had  not 
attained  his  title,  but  still  retained  his  idea  of  standing 
candidate,  he  would  certainly  be  elected  there.  He  pays 
his  bills  regularly  himself,  locks  up  his  doors  at  night, 
that  his  servants  may  not  stay  out  late,  and  never 
drinks  but  a  few  glasses  of  wine.  Though  the  value  of 
crowns  is  mightily  fallen  of  late  at  market,  it  looks  as 
if  His  Royal  Highness  thought  they  were  still  worth 
waiting  for ;  nay,  it  is  said  that  he  tells  his  brothers,  that 
he  shall  be  king  before  either ;  this  is  fair  at  least."  He 
was  afterwards  William  iv. 

The  Prince  of  Wales  mixed  freely  in  political  in- 
trigues of  the  worst  kind,  and  took  part  in  faction  politics. 
As  a  man  he  was  a  contemptible  creature  without 
character  or  intellect,  but,  in  spite  of  all  his  faults,  he  had 
a  certain  number  of  admirers,  because  as  a  young  man 
he  was  graceful  and  obliging  in  manners,  and  personal 
graciousness  in  a  sovereign  covers  a  multitude  of  sins. 

It_is  incongruous  that  a  pure  sweet  story  such  as 
Emma  should  have  been  dedicated  to  a  man  whose  faults 
and  vices  were  such  as  the  clean-minded  author  could 
never  have  conceived,  but  the  dedication  probably  served 
the  purpose  of  advertising  this,  the  last  novel  that  Jane 
herself  was  to  see  issued  to  the  public. 

Emma  ranks  very  high  indeed  among  the  novels,  but 
it  relies  for  its  position  on  a  different  sort  of  excellence 
from  that  which  distinguishes  Pride  and  Prejudice  ;  there 


3o8  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

is  in  it,  as  we  might  have  expected,  more  finished  work- 
manship and  less  of  the  brilliancy  of  youth.  The  book 
is  not  so  lively  as  Pride  and  Prejudice,  and  its  somewhat 
slow  opening,  unlike  Jane's  usual  style,  is  enough  to 
discourage  some  readers  who  expect  to  be  plunged  into  a 
scene  such  as  that  which  begins  her  first  novel,  or  which 
comes  very  soon  in  Sense  and  Sensibility.  Emma  has, 
iiowever,  more  plot  than  is  usual  with  Jane  Austen's 
writings,  it  is  more  deliberately  constructed,  and  yet  the 
whole  scene  takes  place  in  a  quiet  country  village  without 
^  once  changing. 

The  heroine  Emma,  whose  domestic  importance  as 
the  only  unmarried  daughter  of  a  wealthy  widower  has 
given  her  a  full  idea  of  her  own  value,  has  developed  her 
individuality  very  strongly.  She  is  not  spoilt,  but  all 
her  words  and  actions  betoken  one  accustomed  to  impress 
her  will  on  her  surroundings,  in  a  way  not  often  allowed 
to  unmarried  girls  at  home.  The  motif  is  her  match- 
making propensity,  which  again  and  again  brings  her  to 
grief;  this  affords  opening  for  many  of  the  humorous 
touches  in  which  the  author  delights. 

The  book  is  very  rich  in  secondary  characters.  The 
garrulous,  kind-hearted  Miss  Bates,  with  her  rattling 
tongue,  is  one  of  the  strongly  individualised  comic 
'Characters  which  Jane  generally  manages  to  insert.  She 
ranks  with  Mr.  Collins,  with  Mrs.  Norris,  and  the  lesser 
specimens  of  the  same  gallery,  Mrs.  Allen  and  Mrs.  Jennings. 
She  is  admirably  true  to  life,  just  such  a  garrulous, 
empty-headed,  good-hearted,  tiresome  creature  as  many 
a  governess  of  the  old  school  has  degenerated  into  in 
the  evening  of  her  life. 

]pmma's  father,  the  valetudinarian  Mr.  Woodhouse,- 
has  been  said  to  be  overdrawn,  but  the  great  merit  of  ^ 
'  J  ane's  work  is  that  she  does  not  exaggerate ;   traits  to- 
be  found  in  people  that  any  of  us  might  number  among 


THE  PRINCE  REGENT  AND  EMMA         309 

our  acquaintance  are  so  skilfully  depicted  as  to  appear 
prominent ;  she  selects  true  if  extreme  types,  and  does 
^not  draw  monstrosities  such  as  those  in  which  Dickens's 
books  abound,  and  of  which  one  can  only  say  they  may 
have  existed,  once,  at  one  time,  but  are  as  rare  as  the 
exhibits  in  a  dime  museum. 

Mr.  Woodhouse's  married  daughter,  Mrs.  Knightley, 
is  excellently  done ;  her  sympathy  with  her  father's 
tastes  is  only  kept  in  check  by  her  affection  for  husband 
and  children,  which  forces  her  to  attend  to  them  and 
forget  herself;  yet  the  enjoyment  with  which  she  sips 
her  gruel,  when  allowed  to  have  it,  is  real  enjoyment,  and 
she  would  have  certainly  lived  on  gruel  too  had  she 
been  an  old  maid. 

The  hero,  Mr.  Knightley,  is  one  of  the  few  sensible 
men  among  Jane's  heroes,  and  he  with  his  experience 
and  strength  of  character,  is,  as  has  been  said  elsewhere, 
the  only  true  mate  for  Emma.  Knightley  has  been 
criticised  as  a  prig,  but  he  is  far  from  that.  He  was 
a  stern  elderly  man  apparently  at  least  forty-five  in  age, 
though  we  are  told  he  was  only  thirty.  Emma  herself 
has  more  ability  than  her  rival,  Elizabeth  Bennet,  in 
Pride  and  Prejudice ;  her  mind  has  more  depth  and 
application  :  we  could  imagine  Emma  reading  and 
studying,  whereas,  pleasant  as  Elizabeth  might  have  been 
as  a  companion,  her  forte  was  general  intelligent  interest 
not  depth,  and  we  could  not  picture  her  deeply  absorbed 
in  any  book  but  a  novel.  Emma  was  one  of  Jane's  own 
favourite  heroines,  and  she  said  of  her,  "  I  am  going  to 
draw  a  heroine  whom  no  one  but  myself  will  much  like." 
It  is  true  that  for  the  generality  of  men  Emma  would,  in 
real  life,  have  been  just  a  little  too  strong,  but  she  is  none 
the  less  interesting  to  read  about. 

Mr.   Elton  has  already  been  commented  on  in  the 
chapter  on  clergymen  ;    a  more  perfect  match  than   he 


310  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

and  his  vulgar  flashy  wife  would  be  difficult  to  find.  As 
for  Jane's  traits  of  character  in  regard  to  the  hero  and 
his  brother,  her  genius  cannot  be  better  expressed  than 
in  the  words  of  Mr.  Herries  Pollock,  who  calls  it  "  the 
finely  touched  likeness  and  unlikeness  between  the 
brothers  Knightley.  At  every  turn  of  phrase,  at  every 
step  so  to  speak,  one  knows  which  is  the  better  man, 
and  yet  the  point  is  never  pressed  by  the  author." 
Though  on  the  whole  the  book  has  less  vei've  than 
Pride  and  Prejudice^  it  is  rich  in  observation  and  quiet 
humour. 

It  was  published  by  Mr.  Murray  in  December  1815. 
Jane  says  of  it — 

"  My  greatest  anxiety  at  present  is  that  this  fourth 
work  should  not  disgrace  what  was  good  in  the  others. 
But  on  this  point  I  will  do  myself  the  justice  to  declare 
that,  whatever  may  be  my  wishes  for  its  success,  I  am 
strongly  haunted  with  the  idea  that  to  those  readers 
who  have  preferred  Pride  and  Prejudice  it  will  appear 
inferior  in  wit,  and  to  those  who  have  preferred  Mans- 
field Park  inferior  in  good  sense."  (Mr.  Austen-Leigh's 
Memoir?) 

A  reviewer  in  The  Quarterly  of  the  autumn  1 8 1 5 
includes  Emma  with  other  works  of  the  same  writer.  It 
has  been  supposed,  therefore,  that  the  proof  sheets  must 
have  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Quarterly  reviewer  before 
the  work  was  actually  issued.  Mr.  Austin-Dobson,  by 
application  to  Mr.  Murray,  cleared  up  the  difficulty,  for 
he  ascertained  that,  owing  to  exceptional  delays,  the 
number  of  the  Review  bearing  date  October  1 8 1  5  did 
not  in  reality  come  out  until  March  1 8 1 6,  and  that 
therefore  Emma  had  actually  appeared  before  its  pro- 
duction. 

The  reviewer  was  Sir  Walter  Scott,  as  is  stated  by 
Lockhart  in  a  note  to  the  Life^  who  adds  that  Emma 


THE  PRINCE  REGENT  AND  EMMA         311 

and  Northanger  Abbey  were  in  particular  great  favourites 
of  Scott's.  In  his  summary  at  the  end  of  the  article,  Sir 
Walter  Scott  says — 

*'  The  author's  knowledge  of  the  world  and  the 
peculiar  tact  with  which  she  presents  characters  that  the 
reader  cannot  fail  to  recognise,  reminds  us  something 
of  the  merits  of  the  Flemish  school  of  painting.  The 
subjects  are  not  often  elegant  and  certainly  never  grand ; 
but  they  are  finished  up  to  nature,  and  with  a  precision 
which  delights  the  reader."  "  The  faults  on  the  contrary 
arise  from  the  minute  detail  which  the  author's  plan 
comprehends.  Characters  of  folly  or  simplicity  such  as 
those  of  old  Woodhouse  and  Miss  Bates,  are  ridiculous 
when  first  presented,  but  if  too  often  brought  forward,  or 
too  long  dwelt  upon,  their  prosing  is  apt  to  become  as 
tiresome  in  fiction  as  in  real  society." 

In  this  we  cannot  agree,  to  accuse  Jane  of  it  is  to 
accuse  her  of  lacking  the  very  gift  in  which  she  was  pre- 
eminent— selection.  The  merit  of  her  bores  is  that  they 
never  bore,  but  are  only  amusing.  She  never  proses,  and 
her  few  paragraphs  of  quotation  from  the  sayings  of 
Miss  Bates  set  that  lady  before  us  as  clearly  or  more 
clearly  than  if  fifty  pages  from  the  actual  life  had  been 
given  by  the  phonograph. 

From  what  Jane  says  she  apparently  saw  this  article 
in  March  1 8 1 6  when  she  was  back  at  Chawton  ;  for  she 
writes :  "  The  authoress  of  Emma  has  no  reason,  I 
think,  to  complain  of  her  treatment  in  it,  except  in  the 
total  omission  of  Mansfield  Park  ;  I  cannot  but  be  sorry 
that  so  clever  a  man  as  the  reviewer  of  Emma  should 
consider  it  as  unworthy  of  being  noticed." 

That  Jane  was  satisfied  with  her  treatment  by  Mr. 
Murray  may  be  seen  by  her  handing  over  to  him  the 
conduct  of  the  second  edition  of  Mansfield  Park.  She 
writes  in  one  place, "  I  had  a  most  civil  note  in  reply  from 


312  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Mr.  Murray.     He  is  so  very  polite  indeed  that  it  is  quite 
over-coming." 

At  this  time  she  must  have  begun  the  last  and 
shortest  of  her  books,  Persuasion^  which  she  finished  in 
August  of  the  same  year.  And  with  this  we  enter  on 
the  last  phase,  the  gradual  decline  and  sinking  of  the 
bright  spirit,  which  had  added  so  greatly  to  the  happiness 
of  thousands  it  had  never  known. 


CHAPTER   XIX 
LAST  DAYS 

THE  evening  of  Jane's  life  had  set  in,  but  yet  it  had 
not  occurred  even  to  those  who  loved  her  best 
that  they  must  inevitably  lose  her.  She  was  in  her  forty- 
first  year ;  recognition  from  the  public  had  just  begun  to 
be  accorded  to  her  ;  in  the  novels  she  had  lately  written  no 
sign  of  decay  could  be  detected.  It  is  true  that  in  both 
Emma  and  Pe7'suasion  there  is  a  particular  maturity  of 
rendering,  and  a  kindlier  tone  that  marks  perhaps  a 
difference,  but  not  degeneracy.  If  the  word  seriousness 
can  ever  be  used  of  such  clear-cut,  brilliant  work  as  hers, 
we  might  say  that  a  certain  sweet  seriousness  pervaded 
these  two,  which  are  more  alike  in  tone  than  any  of  the 
other  novels.  Persuasion  has  been  called  the  "  most  beau- 
tiful of  all  the  novels  "  ;  it  has  many  excellencies,  not  the 
least  among  which  is  the  character  of  the  heroine,  whose 
girlish  weakness  develops  into  a  loyal  steadfastness. 
She  has  also  that  endearingness  that  perhaps  certain 
others  of  the  heroines  lack.  In  fact,  of  all  the  principal 
female  characters  that  of  Anne  Elliot  has  most  of  that 
nameless  and  indefinable  charm,  which  comes  from  a 
combination  of  qualities  such  as  firmness,  gentleness, 
unselfishness,  sympathy  and  sweetness,  a  charm  which  is 
more  lovable  than  any  number  of  stereotyped  graces. 
Though  Anne  was  at  one  time  weak,  we  feel  that  she 
outgrows  it,  that  it  was  the  weakness  of  immaturity,  not 
of  character,  and  that  her  loyalty  fully  redeems  it. 

313 


314  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

Jane  herself  says  of  Anne  Elliot,  "  You  may  perhaps 
like  the  heroine  as  she  is  almost  too  good  for  me,"  yet 
the  too-good  note  seems  less  obtrusive  with  Anne  than 
with  Fanny  Price,  whose  exceeding  surface  meekness 
does  sometimes  produce  a  little  exasperation.  Anne  and 
Fanny  have  the  most  in  common  among  the  heroines  of 
the  novels,  yet  what  a  difference  is  there !  Fanny  has 
many  virtues,  but  her  intense  nervous  sensitiveness  makes 
one  feel  her  self-consciousness,  and  underlying  all  her 
shrinking  there  was  a  quality  of  obstinacy  that  is  felt 
without  being  insisted  upon.  It  is  just  the  subtle 
difference  that  Jane  knew  so  well  how  to  make,  the 
feeling  perhaps  is  that  Fanny  is  not  quite  a  gentlewoman, 
that  she  would  be  difficult  to  get  on  with,  however  meek 
and  self-effacing  on  the  surface,  while  Anne  could  never 
be  anything  but  a  delightful  companion. 

Incidentally  some  parts  of  Persuasion  have  already 
been  referred  to,  Louisa  Musgrove's  fall  on  the  Cobb,  the 
scenes  that  take  place  in  Bath,  the  touching  words  of 
Anne  when  she  feels  that  she  has  hopelessly  lost  her 
lover,  which  strike  a  deeper  note  of  feeling  than  any  other 
in  the  whole  range  of  the  novels.  It  remains  therefore 
but  to  say  that  there  is  no  secondary  character  to  equal 
those  of  Miss  Bates  or  Mr.  Collins,  that  the  secondary 
characters  are  in  all  cases  less  sharply  defined  than  those 
usually  depicted  by  Jane,  but  that  Captain  Wentworth 
is  equal  to  his  good  fortune,  and  that  as  a  pair  of  lovers 
he  and  Anne  stand  unrivalled. 

Persuasion  was  finished  in  July  1 8 1 6,  but  Jane  was 
not  satisfied  with  it,  perhaps  her  own  failing  health  and 
the  sense  of  tiredness  that  went  with  it,  had  made  her 
lose  that  grip  of  the  action  that  she  had  hitherto  held  so 
well ;  she  felt  the  story  did  not  end  satisfactorily,  that 
it  wanted  bringing  together  and  clinching  so  to  speak ; 
Mr.  Austen-Leigh  says :  "  This  weighed  upon  her  mind. 


LAST  DAYS  315 

the  more  so  probably  on  account  of  her  weak  state  of 
health,  so  that  one  night  she  retired  to  rest  in  very  low 
spirits.  But  such  depression  was  little  in  accordance 
with  her  nature,  and  was  soon  shaken  off.  The  next 
morning  she  woke  to  more  cheerful  views  and  brighter 
inspirations  ;  the  sense  of  power  revived  and  imagination 
resumed  its  course.  She  cancelled  the  condemned 
chapter  and  wrote  two  others,  entirely  different,  in  its 
stead." 

These  were  the  tenth  and  eleventh  chapters,  and 
contained  the  scene  in  which  Anne  so  touchingly 
expresses  her  ideas  on  the  theme  of  woman's  love. 
There  is  no  question  that  the  story  as  it  now  stands 
is  improved  by  the  change,  and  that  her  instinct  was 
true.  Mr.  Austen-Leigh  gives  the  cancelled  chapter  in 
his  MejHoir^  and  it  certainly  is  "  tame  and  flat "  com- 
pared with  the  others,  and  had  she  not  made  the 
substitution  it  might  justly  have  been  said  that  Persua- 
sion^ however  charming,  did  show  signs  of  failing  power. 

This  book  was  not  published  until  after  her  death, 
when  it  appeared  in  one  volume  with  Northanger  Abbey ^ 
the  first  to  which  her  name  was  prefixed,  this  came 
out  in  1 8 1 8  with  a  Memoir  by  her  brother  Henry. 
Up  to  the  time  of  her  death  she  had  received  nearly 
seven  hundred  pounds  for  the  published  books,  which, 
considering  her  anonymity,  and  entire  lack  of  publicity 
and  influence,  must  have  appeared  to  her,  and  indeed 
was,  wonderful,  though  in  comparison  with  the  true 
value  of  the  work  very  little  indeed. 

In  December  1816  her  brothers,  Henry  and  Charles, 
were  both  at  Chawton,  and  she  speaks  of  their  being  in 
good  health  and  spirits.  She  got  through  the  winter 
well,  and  wrote  to  a  friend  in  January,  "  Such  mild 
weather  is,  you  know,  delightful  to  us,  and  though 
we  have  a  great  nriany  ponds  and  a  fine  running  stream 


3i6  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

through  the  meadows  on  the  other  side  of  the  road,  it 
is  nothing  but  what  beautifies  us  and  does  to  talk  of. 
I  have  certainly  gained  strength  through  the  winter, 
and  am  not  far  from  being  well.  And  I  think  I 
understand  my  own  case  now  so  much  better  than 
I  did,  as  to  be  able  by  care  to  keep  off  any  serious 
return  of  illness." 

She  had  taken  to  using  a  donkey-carriage  in  good 
weather,  and  doubtless  this  was  a  great  boon,  though 
she  was  able  to  walk  one  way  either  to  or  from  Alton 
without  over-fatigue,  and  hoped  to  be  able  to  manage 
both  ways  when  the  summer  came.  In  January  also 
she  mentions  that  her  brother  Henry,  who  was  now 
ordained,  was  coming  down  to  preach.  "  It  will  be  a 
nervous  hour  for  our  pew,  though  we  hear  that  he 
acquits  himself  with  as  much  ease  and  collectedness 
as  if  he  had  been  used  to  it  all  his  life." 

Her  last  completed  book  Persuasion  was  not  her  last 
work,  even  in  declining  strength  the  motive  power  was 
unabated. 

"  Upon  a  fitful  revival  of  her  strength,  at  the  beginning 
of  1 8 17,  she  fell  eagerly  to  work  at  a  story,  of  which 
she  wrote  twelve  chapters.  It  has  no  name,  and  the 
plot  and  purpose  are  undeveloped.  But  some  of  the 
personages  sketched  have  more  than  promise.  There 
is  a  Mr.  Parker  with  fixed  theories  as  to  the  fashion- 
able watering  place  he  hopes  to  evolve  out  of  a  Sussex 
fishing  village ;  there  is  a  rich  and  vulgar  Lady  Denham, 
who  will  certainly  disappoint  her  relatives  by  the  testa- 
mentary disposition  of  her  property,  and  there  are  two 
maiden  ladies  who  thoroughly  '  enjoy '  bad  health,  and 
quack  themselves  to  their  heart's  content.  Whatever 
the  plot  to  be  unravelled,  there  is  no  sign  that  the  writer's 
hand  had  lost  its  cunning."  (Mr.  Austin  Dobson's  pre- 
face to  Macmillan's  edition  of  Northanger  Abbey ^ 


LAST  DAYS  317 

We  are  told  by  Mr.  Austen-Leigh  that  the  date 
on  the  last  chapter  of  this  MS.  was  March  17,  which, 
"  as  the  watch  of  a  drowned  man  denotes  the  time 
of  his  death,  so  does  this  final  date  seem  to  fix  the 
period  when  her  mind  could  no  longer  pursue  its 
accustomed  course." 

It  was  in  March  that  her  own  family  began  to 
think  seriously  of  the  malady  that  was  so  insidiously 
making  inroads  on  her  vitality.  Her  niece  Caroline, 
Anna's  half-sister,  and  sister  of  the  Mr.  Austen-Leigh 
to  whose  Memoir  the  world  is  so  much  indebted,  was 
then  a  child  of  twelve ;  she  came  about  the  end  of 
March  to  stay  at  Chawton,  but  found  her  aunt  so  ill 
that  she  could  not  be  taken  in,  so  she  was  sent  on  to 
her  half-sister  Anna  Lefroy;  in  her  private  records  she 
gives  the  following  account  from  recollection :  "  The 
next  day  we  walked  over  to  Chawton  to  make  enquiries 
after  our  aunt,  she  was  then  keeping  her  room,  but  said 
she  would  see  us  and  we  went  up  to  her.  She  was 
in  her  dressing-gown,  and  was  sitting  quite  like  an 
invalid  in  an  arm-chair,  but  she  got  up  and  kindly 
greeted  us,  and  then  pointing  to  seats  which  had  been 
arranged  for  us  by  the  fire,  *  There  is  a  chair  for  the 
married  lady,  and  a  little  stool  for  you,  Caroline.'  .  .  . 
I  was  struck  by  the  alteration  in  herself.  She  was 
very  pale,  her  voice  was  weak  and  low,  and  there  was 
about  her  a  general  appearance  of  debility  and  suffering, 
but  I  have  been  told  that  she  never  had  much  acute 
pain.  She  was  not  equal  to  the  exertion  of  talking  to 
us,  and  our  visit  to  the  sick  room  was  a  very  short 
one,  aunt  Cassandra  soon  taking  us  away.  I  do  not 
suppose  we  stayed  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  I  never 
saw  aunt  Jane  again." 

It  was  in  May  that  Jane  was  persuaded  to  go  with 
her  sister  to    lodgings    in    Winchester   for   the   sake   of 


3i8  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

further  medical  advice,  and  she  never  returned  to 
Chawton,  though  probably  that  was  the  last  thought 
that  would  have  occurred  to  her  on  leaving  it,  for  she 
was  never  inclined  to  be  analytical  or  valetudinarian, 
and  certainly  she  was  one  of  the  last  to  affect  illness, 
or  become  an  invalid  for  fancy.  Cassandra  cannot 
have  known  how  soon  she  was  to  be  bereaved  of  that 
dear  sister  whose  life  had  run  in  such  harmony  with 
her  own,  and  though  anxiety  must  have  darkened  her 
heart,  Jane's  own  sanguineness  would  buoy  her  with 
fresh  hope,  and  the  weeks  the  sisters  passed  together 
in  Winchester  must  have  been  singularly  peaceful. 

The  house  in  which  Jane  stayed  still  stands,  it  is 
in  College  Street,  close  to  the  great  archway  that  marks 
the  entrance  to  the  College  precincts.  She  says  of  it 
herself,  "  Our  lodgings  are  very  comfortable,  we  have 
a  neat  little  drawing-room  with  a  bow  window  over- 
looking Dr.  Gabell's  garden." 

Here  her  life  and  strength  slowly  ebbed  away ; 
day  by  day  she  was  longer  chained  to  her  sofa  from 
increasing  weakness.  The  elementary  medical  know- 
ledge of  her  day  was  powerless  to  help  her,  though 
her  life,  humanly  speaking,  could  probably  have  been 
prolonged  if  medical  science  had  then  known  what 
it   knows   now. 

Day  by  day  through  the  bow  window  overlooking 
the  street,  would  come  the  sound  of  boyish  voices,  the 
clatter  of  boyish  feet,  and  she  could  see  the  greenery 
of  the  trees  in  the  garden  beyond  the  wall.  She 
had  plenty  of  companionship,  Cassandra  was  ever  with 
her,  and  Mrs.  James  Austen  helped  in  the  nursing. 

The  slight  sharpness  arising  from  unusual  penetra- 
tion, which  had  sometimes  marked  Jane's  comments  in 
earlier  days,  had  all  died  down,  she  said  gratefully  to 
her  sister-in-law,  "  You  have  always  been   a  kind  sister 


LAST  DAYS  319 

to  me,  Mary,"  and  of  her  own  dear  Cassandra  she  said, 
"  I  will  only  say  further  that  my  dearest  sister,  my 
tender,  watchful,  indefatigable  nurse,  has  not  been  made 
ill  by  her  exertions.  As  to  what  I  owe  her,  and  the 
anxious  affection  of  all  my  beloved  family  on  this 
occasion,  I  can  only  cry  over  it,  and  pray  God  to  bless 
them  more  and  more." 

And  on  July  18,  when  all  the  trees  were  at  their 
greenest,  and  the  bright  sunshine  lighted  up  the  walls 
of  the  hoary  abbey,  she  passed  away.  We  can  add 
nothing  to  her  sister's  account,  written  in  the  agony 
of  the  first  bereavement,  to  her  who  was  now  closest  to 
her  heart,  her  niece,  Fanny  Knight. 

"  My  dearest  Fanny, — Doubly  dear  to  me  now  for 
her  dear  sake  whom  we  have  lost.  She  did  love  you 
most  sincerely.  .  .  .  Since  Tuesday  evening  when  her 
complaint  returned,  there  was  a  visible  change,  she  slept 
more,  and  much  more  comfortably ;  indeed  during  the 
last  eight  and  forty  hours  she  was  more  asleep  than 
awake.  Her  looks  altered  and  she  fell  away,  but  I 
perceived  no  material  diminution  of  strength,  and, 
though  I  was  then  hopeless  of  her  recovery,  I  had  no 
suspicion  how  rapidly  my  loss  was  approaching. 

"  I  have  lost  a  treasure,  such  a  sister,  such  a  friend 
as  never  can  have  been  surpassed.  She  was  the  sun  of 
my  life,  the  gilder  of  every  pleasure,  the  soother  of 
every  sorrow,  I  had  not  a  thought  concealed  from  her, 
and  it  is  as  if  I  had  lost  a  part  of  myself 

"...  She  felt  herself  to  be  dying  about  half  an 
hour  before  she  became  tranquil  and  apparently  uncon- 
scious. During  that  half  hour  was  her  struggle,  poor 
soul !  She  said  she  could  not  tell  us  what  she  suffered, 
though  she  complained  of  little  fixed  pain.  When  I 
asked  her  if  there  was  anything  she  wanted,  her  answer 
was   she  wanted   nothing   but   death,  and    some  of  her 


320  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

words  were,  '  God  grant  me  patience ;  pray  for  me,  oh, 
pray  for  me ! '  Her  voice  was  affected,  but  as  long  as 
she  spoke  she  was  intelligible. 

"  I  hope  I  do  not  break  your  heart,  my  dearest 
Fanny,  by  these  particulars,  I  mean  to  afford  you  gratifi- 
cation while  I  am  relieving  my  own  feelings.  I  could 
not  write  so  to  anybody  else.  .  .  .  On  Thursday,  when 
the  clock  struck  six,  she  was  talking  quietly  to  me.  I 
cannot  say  how  soon  afterwards  she  was  seized  again 
with  faintness,  which  was  followed  by  the  sufferings 
which  she  could  not  describe,  but  Mr.  Lyford  who  had 
been  sent  for,  had  applied  something  to  give  her  ease, 
and  she  was  in  a  state  of  quiet  insensibility  by  seven 
o'clock  at  the  latest.  From  that  time  till  half  past 
four  when  she  ceased  to  breathe,  she  scarcely  moved  a 
limb,  so  that  we  have  every  reason  to  think  with  grati- 
tude to  the  Almighty,  that  her  sufferings  were  over.  A 
slight  motion  of  the  head  with  every  breath  remained 
till  almost  the  last.  I  sat  close  to  her  with  a  pillow  in 
my  lap  to  assist  in  supporting  her  head  which  was 
almost  off  the  bed,  for  six  hours ;  fatigue  made  me  then 
resign  my  place  to  Mrs.  J.  A.  for  two  hours  and  a  half, 
when  I  took  it  again,  and  in  about  an  hour  more  she 
breathed  her  last. 

"...  There  was  nothing  convulsed  which  gave  the 
idea  of  pain  in  her  look ;  on  the  contrary,  but  for  the 
continual  motion  of  the  head,  she  gave  one  the  idea  of 
a  beautiful  statue,  and  even  now  in  her  coffin,  there  is 
such  a  sweet  serene  air  over  her  countenance  as  is  quite 
pleasant  to  comtemplate." 

And  later  on  after  the  funeral  she  wrote  again, 
"  Thursday  was  not  so  dreadful  a  day  to  me  as  you 
imagined.  .  .  .  Everything  was  conducted  with  the 
greatest  tranquillity,  and  but  that  I  was  determined  that 
I  would  see  the  last,  and  therefore  was  upon  the  listen,  I 


LAST  DAYS  321 

should  not  have  known  when  they  left  the  house.  I 
watched  the  little  mournful  procession  the  length  of  the 
street,  and  when  it  turned  from  my  sight,  and  I  had 
lost  her  for  ever,  even  then  I  was  not  over-powered,  nor 
so  much  agitated  as  I  am  now  in  writing  of  it.  Never 
was  a  human  being  more  sincerely  mourned  by  those 
who  attended  her  remains  than  was  this  dear  creature. 
May  the  sorrow  with  which  she  is  parted  with  on  earth 
be  a  prognostic  of  the  joy  with  which  she  is  hailed  in 
heaven  !  .  .  .  Oh,  if  I  may  one  day  be  reunited  to  her 
there ! " 

Cassandra  herself  survived  for  twenty-eight  years, 
and  spent  her  last  days  in  the  cottage  at  Chawton 
endeared  to  her  by  recollections  of  her  mother  and 
beloved  sister. 

Jane's  resting  -  place  in  the  Cathedral  is  almost 
opposite  the  tomb  of  the  founder,  William  of  Wykeham. 
A  large  black  slab  of  marble  let  into  the  pavement 
marks  the  spot,  it  bears  an  inscription  including  the 
following  words :  "  The  benevolence  of  her  heart,  the 
sweetness  of  her  temper,  and  the  extraordinary  endow- 
ments of  her  mind  obtained  the  regard  of  all  who  knew 
her,  and  the  warmest  love  of  her  immediate  connexions." 

Subsequently  her  nephew  Mr.  Austen-Leigh  inserted 
a  brass  on  the  wall  near  with  an  inscription  which  runs 
as  follows  :  "  Jane  Austen,  known  to  many  by  her  writing, 
endeared  to  her  family  by  the  varied  charms  of  her 
character,  and  ennobled  by  Christian  faith  and  piety,  was 
born  at  Steventon  in  the  county  of  Hampshire  Dec.  16, 
1775,  and  buried  in  this  cathedral  July  24,  18 17. 
*  She  openeth  her  mouth  with  wisdom  and  in  her  tongue 
is  the  law  of  kindness.' " 

In  1900  a  memorial  window  was  inserted  as  the 
result  of  a  public  subscription ;  it  was  designed  and 
executed  by  C.  E.  Kemp.  In  the  head  of  the  window 
21 


322  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

is  a  figure  of  St.  Augustine  whose  name  in  its  abbreviated 
form  is  St.  Austin.  In  the  centre  of  the  upper  row  of 
lights  is  David  with  his  harp.  Below  his  figure,  in 
Latin,  are  the  words,  "  Remember  in  the  Lord  Jane 
Austen  who  died  July  i8,  A.D.  1817."  In  the  centre 
of  the  bottom  row  is  the  figure  of  St.  John,  and  the 
remaining  figures  are  those  of  the  sons  of  Korah  carry- 
ing scrolls,  with  sentences  in  Latin,  indicative  of  the 
religious  side  of  Jane  Austen's  character,  namely,  "  Come 
ye  children,  hearken  unto  me ;  I  will  teach  you  the  fear 
of  the  Lord."  "  Them  that  are  meek  shall  He  guide  in 
judgement,  and  such  as  are  gentle  them  shall  He  teach 
His  way."  "  My  mouth  shall  speak  of  wisdom  and 
my  heart  shall  muse  on  understanding."  "  My  mouth 
shall  daily  speak  of  Thy  righteousness  and  Thy 
salvation." 

That  Jane  was  so  deeply  and  dearly  loved  by  her 
own  people  speaks  much  for  her  worth.  She  and 
Cassandra,  especially  Cassandra,  were  very  reticent  in 
their  expression  of  feeling,  but  seldom  has  heart  been 
knit  to  heart  as  were  theirs.  The  love  of  sisters  has  not 
often  formed  the  theme  of  song  or  romance ;  we  hear  of 
a  mother's  love  for  her  son,  of  a  brother  for  a  brother, 
but  the  love  of  sisters  is,  when  it  exists  in  perfection,  as 
strong  as  these,  as  pure  in  its  spring,  and  more  full  of 
feeling.  Sisters  whose  hearts  are  open  to  one  another, 
who  have  shared  the  same  experiences,  look  on  the 
world  from  a  similar  standpoint,  and  the  breaking  of  such 
ties  is  severe  agony.  At  only  forty-one  Jane  had  passed 
away  still  in  the  highest  maturity  of  her  powers,  leaving 
behind  her  but  six  completed  books,  all  short,  but  each 
one  perfect  in  itself.  This  is  what  will  be  said  of  her — 
She  did  what  she  attempted  to  do  perfectly.  The  books 
are  all  instinct  with  the  same  qualities,  the  precision  of 
word  and  phrase,  the  genius  for  knowing  what  to  select 


LAST  DAYS  323 

and  what  to  leave  unsaid,  but  not  one  is  a  repetition  of 
another,  in  the  whole  gallery  of  characters  each  one  is 
distinct. 

She  was  a  real  artist.  Her  work  lay  apart  from  and 
outside  of  herself.  We  do  not  find  a  picture  of  herself 
under  different  names  playing  heroine  in  different  sets  of 
circumstances ;  each  heroine  stands  by  herself,  and  in 
her  women's  portraits  she  reaches  her  high-water  mark — 
Elizabeth  Bennet,  Emma  Woodhouse,  Fanny  Price, 
Anne  Elliot,  Catherine  Morland,  Elinor  Dashwood,  we 
know  each  one  as  a  friend,  and  each  one  is  completely 
differentiated. 

So  brilliant,  so  perfect,  so  stamped  with  its  own 
individuality  is  each  of  the  books,  that  one  wonders  what 
she  could  possibly  have  produced  next  to  take  rank  with 
its  forerunners.  Within  so  small  a  compass,  with  such  a 
narrow  stage  on  which  to  set  the  dramatis  personce^  how 
did  she  manage  to  make  so  great  a  variety  ? 

It  is  in  keeping  with  her  character  and  work  that  there 
should  be  no  decline,  no  falling  off,  that  all  should  be  good  ; 
it  is  true  that  some  of  the  novels  are  preferred  by  one, 
some  by  another ;  some  are  stronger  in  one  point,  some 
in  another,  but  neither  decay  nor  improvement  can  justly 
be  found  between  first  and  last.  This  is  genius.  Genius 
cannot  grow  nor  can  it  be  cultivated,  it  is  there,  and  its 
work  is  done  without  effort  and  without  labour.  If  Jane 
had  not  died  at  so  early  an  age,  her  life  would  not  have 
seemed  so  complete,  so  rounded  as  it  did.  Her  dying  in 
the  full  plenitude  and  maturity  of  power  is  in  keeping 
with  the  level  excellence  of  her  work. 

Her  life  had  been  a  happy  one,  free  from  mind 
worries,  free  from  great  sorrows,  her  affections  had  wide 
play,  her  tastes  full  development ;  she  was  happy  in  the 
love  of  one  very  near  and  dear,  and  if  she  missed  great 
ecstasies,  she  at  least  had  no  hideous  sorrows  to  endure 


324  JANE  AUSTEN  AND  HER  TIMES 

in  the  sin  or  vice  of  those  near  to  her.  Her  one  great 
sorrow  was  perhaps  the  death  of  her  father,  but  he  was 
not  young,  and  in  the  natural  course  of  events  his  death 
cannot  be  called  unexpected.  Sunny,  well-occupied, 
surrounded  with  the  refinements  that  a  sensitive  mind 
appreciates,  she  lived  out  a  life  on  a  high  uniform  level. 
Her  books  supplied  a  motive  and  mainspring  that  other- 
wise might  have  been  felt  to  be  lacking  by  one  so 
energetic.  If,  as  has  been  said,  happiness  on  earth 
demands  "  someone  to  love,  something  to  do,  and  some- 
thing to  hope  for,"  she  had  all  these,  and  much  more. 


TABULAR  STATEMENT  OF  DATES  OF  NOVELS 


Name. 

Begun. 

Finished. 

Published. 

Pride  and  Prejudice 
(First  Impressions) 

Oct.  1796 

Aug.  1797 

Early  in  181 3 

Sense  and  Sensibility 
(Elinor  and  Marianne) 

Nov.  1797 

1798 

June  181 1 

Northanger  Abbey  . 

1798 

1803 

1818 

Mansfield  Park 

1812 

Mar.  1 8 14 

July  1814 

Emma     .... 

1814  or  1815 

1815 

Dec.  1815 

Persuasion 

1815  or  1816 

Aug.  1 8 16 

1818 

RECORD  OF  JANE  AUSTEN'S  RESIDENCES 


From 

To 

Steventon,  Hants 

b.  Dec.  16,  1775 

Spring  1801 

Bath— 

4  Sydney  Terrace 
Green  Park  Buildings 
25  Gay  Street  . 

Spring  1801 
Autumn  1804 
March  1805 

Autumn  1804 
1805 

Southampton 

End  of  1805 

1809 

Chawton,  Hants  . 

Autumn  1809 

d.  July  18,  1817 

325 


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326 


INDEX 


Acting,  291-295. 

Alexander,  Emperor,  272. 

Alexandria,  Battle  of,  253. 

Alger,  J.  G.,  on  travel,  lO-Il. 

Allen,  Ralph,  in. 

Amiens,  Treaty  of,  254. 

Art  of  the  period,  8-9. 

Ashton,  John,  on  the  press-gang, 
206-207 ;  on  feminine  costume, 
240. 

Austen  family — 
Connections,  16. 
Genealogical  table  of,  326. 

Austen,  Anna  (niece),  see  Lefroy. 

Austen,  Caroline  (niece),  on  Jane's 
illness,  317. 

Austen,  Cassandra  (sister),  Jane's 
attachment  to,  18.  19,  31,  1 16, 
322  ;  engagement  of,  19 ;  Jane's 
letters  destroyed  by,  20  ;  visits  to 
Goodnestone  and  Godmersham, 
253,  258,  262-263  ;  at  Win- 
chester, 317-319;  letters  after 
Jane's  death,  319-321  ;  last  days 
of,  321  ;  cited — on  the  sea-side 
romance,  131-132  ;  otherwise 
mentioned,  166-167,  303. 

Austen,  Cassy  (niece),  297. 

Austen,  Adm.  Charles  John  (brother), 
marriages  of,  19,  297  ;  naval  career 
of,  19,  197,  199,  208  ;  at  God- 
mersham, 296  ;  at  Chawton  (18 16), 
315  ;  mentioned,  107. 

Austen,  Mrs.  Charles  (Fanny  Palmer), 
19,  297. 

Austen,  Edward  (brother),  see  Knight. 

Austen,  Adm.  of  the  Fleet  Francis 
(brother),  marriages  of,  19,  256 ; 
naval  career  of,  151,  196-199; 
shares  the  home  at  Southampton, 
256 ;  otherwise  mentioned,  148, 
149. 


Austen,  Mrs.  Francis  (Mary  Gibson), 
256,  258. 

Austen,  Mrs.  Francis  (Martha  Lloyd), 
popularity  of,  with  the  Austens,  17, 
256-257,  263 ;  marriage  of,  19, 
256  ;  at  Bath,  254 ;  at  Southamp- 
ton, 256-257. 

Austen,  Rev.  George  (father),  career 
of,  15-16  ;  retirement  to  Bath,  212- 
213  ;  hobbies,  213  ;  income,  215  ; 
death,  133,  213,  223  ;  character- 
istics, 41,  62 ;  otherwise  men- 
tioned, 59,  177. 

Austen,  Mrs.  (mother),  health  of, 
59-60;  income  of,  255,  256;  at 
Chawton,  269  ;  mentioned,  184. 

Austen,  Rev.  Henry  (brother),  mar- 
riages of,  18,  288  ;  Jane's  literary 
affairs  managed  by,  18,  193,  272  ; 
Memoir  by,  prefixed  to  Northanger 
Abbey,  57-58,  I94»  S^S  ;  sponsor 
to  Edward  Cooper  (junior),  118; 
Jane's  visits  to,  278,  288,  298,  303  ; 
illness  of,  303-304  ;  at  Chawton 
(1816),  315  ;  in  Orders,  316  ;  career 
of,  149  ;  estimate  of,  278  ;  cited — on 
Mansfield  Park,  273,  276  ;  other- 
wise mentioned,  148,  293. 

Austen,  Mrs.  Henry  (Eliza  de 
Feuillade),  18,  112,  278,  288. 

Austen,  Mrs.  Henry  (Eleanor 
Jackson),  18,  288. 

Austen,  Rev.  James  (brother),  mar- 
riages of,  17  ;  at  Steventon,  212- 
213  ;  visit  to  Southampton,  258  ; 
visit  to  Godmersham  (1808),  260- 
262  ;  otherwise  mentioned,  194, 
214. 

Austen,  Mrs.  James  (Mary  Lloyd), 
Jane's  attitude  towards,  214,  258, 
261,  318-319;  on  Harriet  Moore, 
262. 


327 


328 


INDEX 


Austen,  Jane — 

Career  —  parentage  and  family, 
15-19  ;  childhood,  23,  26,  31  ; 
school  days,  31,  32  ;  home  life, 
71  ;  early  writings,  77-78;  visits  to 
relatives,  19,66,  105,  119,  133, 
148-15 1  ;  offers  of  marriage,  129, 
131;  romance,  1 3 1,  262,  268; 
Pride  and  Prejudice^  176,  184- 
185  ;  Sense  and  Sensibility,  185, 
188-189  '■>  Nort hanger  Abbey,  189, 
193-194  ;  removal  to  Bath,  212- 
213,  215-218  ;  Green  Park  Build- 
ings and  Gay  Street,  223  ;  at 
Lyme,  249-251  ;  visit  to  God- 
mersham  (1805),  251  ;  move  to 
Southampton,  251,  254;  visits 
to  Eastwell  and  Goodnestone, 
253  ;  at  Southampton,  257-258  ; 
at  Chawton,  267-270  ;  visits  to 
London,  278-279,  286-288  ; 
theatre-going,  290,  293-295  ;  at 
Godmersham  (1813),  296;  nurs- 
ing Henry  (181 5),  298,  303-304  ; 
interview  with  Prince  Regent's 
librarian,  304-305  ;  failing  health, 
314-319  ;  last  work,  316-317  ;  at 
Winchester,3i8  ;  death,  319-320; 
tomb  and  memorials,  321-322. 

Characteristics — 
Appearance,  58. 
Asperity,  129. 
Cheerfulness,  58,  129,  324. 
Critical  faculty,  185. 
Fastidiousness,  129,  132. 
Health,  58-59. 
Humour,  i,  181. 
Narrowness  of  vision,  50,  254. 
Penetration  and  grasp  of  detail, 
I,  9,  49,  81,95,  129,  132,  318. 
Practicality,  58. 
Selective  faculty,  311. 
Superficiality,  58. 
Vivacity  and  wit,  123,  129. 

Comparison  of,  with  Fanny 
Burney,  87,  97 ;  with  George 
Eliot,  loo-ioi  ;  with  Charlotte 
Bronte,  103-104 ;  with  Maria 
Edgeworth,  181-182. 

Estimates  of,  unfavourable,  128. 

Portrait  of,  at  15,  32  ;  later,  57. 
Austen  -  Leigh,        James        Edward 

(nephew),  birth  of,    194 ;  name  of 

Leigh     assumed     by,      17,      216; 


Memoir  of  Jane  Austen  by,  17  ; 
memorial  brass  inserted  by,  321  ; 
qtioted — on  Steventon,  13,  14  ;  on 
Jane's  popularity  with  children,  23  ; 
on  Jane's  accomplishments,  32-33  ; 
on  furniture,  63  ;  on  Jane's  early 
writings,  78  ;  on  the  Coopers,  118  ; 
on  minuets,  126  ;  on  the  sea-side 
romance,  131-132  ;  on  the  home 
at  Southampton,  255  ;  on  Henry 
Austen,  278  ;  on  Persuasion,  314- 
3I5>  3175  cited — on  minuet-danc- 
ing, 223  ;  letters  in  the  Memoir,  249, 
276  ;  The  Watsons  in  the  Memoir, 
251  ;  cancelled  chapter  of  Persua- 
sion in  the  Memoir,  315. 

Baillie,  Joanna,  172. 
Balls- 
Bath,  at,  222-225. 

Country,  11 9- 120. 

Dances  at,  121  {see  also  Dancing). 

Dress  at,  124-127  ;  masculine,  126. 

Etiquette  of,  121-123. 

Evelina,  account  in,  1 21-123. 

Formality  of,  121. 

Partners  at,  1 21-123. 

Bateson,  Mary,  cited,  238. 
Bath- 
Abbey,  219. 

Assembly  Rooms,  220-221. 

Austens'  removal  to,  212-213, 
215-218  ;  house  in  Sydney  Place, 
219  ;  table  of  residences,  325. 

Balls  at,  222-225. 

Characteristics  of  the  town,  219. 

House-hunting  in,  215-218. 

Nash's  renovation  of,  220-221, 
247-248. 

New  Guide  on,  224. 

Pump  Room,  219-220. 

Society  of,    reproduced   in   North- 
anger  Abbey,  189-190. 
Besant,     Sir     Walter,     quoted  —  on 

eighteenth-century  morals,  95  ;  on 

franking  of   letters,    113- 114;  on 

wigs,  235-236. 
"  Blue-stocking,"  origin  of  epithet,  7. 
Boothby,     Capt.     Charles,      quoted, 

156-157- 
Brabourne,  Lord,  family  of,  18,  301  ; 
cited — on  the  Coopers,   11 7-1 18; 
on  Fanny  Knight,   270 ;    quoted — 
on  Godmersham,  251-252,  261. 


INDEX 


329 


Brasbridge,  Joseph,  cited^  114. 
Bridges,  Harriet,  see  Moore. 
Bridges,  Louisa,  148,  149. 
Bridges,  Marianne,  253. 
Bronte,    Charlotte,    compared     with 

George  Eliot,  100-102  ;  with  Jane 

Austen,  103-104. 
Brydges,     Sir    Egerton,     on     Jane's 

appearance,  57. 
Burnet,  Bishop,  quoted,  47. 
Burney,  Fanny,  works  of,  86-87,  97  ; 

Macaulay's  criticism   of,    164-165 ; 

Walpole's  criticism  of,  165  ;  lively 

environment  of,  164  ;  cited — on  the 

Court,  305-306. 
Byron,  173. 

Cage,  Lewis,  148,  149. 

Camilla,  165. 

Campbell,  Thomas,  173. 

Caps,  230-232. 

Card  games,  5,  127. 

Cecilia,  2>6,  87,  97,  165,  176. 

Charades,  264. 

Chaw  ton  Cottage,  Austens'  home  at, 

266-270. 
Chawton  House — 

Acquisition  of,  by  Edward  Knight, 

17. 

Lawsuit  concerning,  128,  297. 

Value  of,  255,  297. 
Cheverels  of  Cheverel  Manor,    The, 

8>  65,  67,  77  ;  travelling  described 

in,  154-155- 
Children — 

Books  for,  28. 

Jane's  attitude  towards,  23-24  ; 
her  popularity  with,  23  ;  her  de- 
lineation of,  24-27. 

Treatment  of,  22,  27. 
Churches,  38-39. 

Clarence,  Duke  of  (William  IV.),  307. 
Clareiitine,  168. 
Clarke,  Mr.,  304-305. 
Clergy — 

Examination  of,  for  Orders,  46-47. 

Jane's  references  to,  43. 

Livings  of,  42. 

Position  of,  34-37,  44-45- 

Types  of,  40-43- 
Coaches,  156-158,  2S2. 
Coals  and  coal  mines,  64-65. 
Ccelebs  in  Search  of  a  Wife,  estimate 

of,  167  ;  quoted,  27,  30 ;  cited,  96. 


Coleridge,  173. 

Comedy  of  Jane  Austen,  character  of, 

I,  88. 
Cooper,  Dr.,  117,  119. 
Cooper,  Edward,  11 7-1 18. 
Cooper,  Jane  (Lady  Williams),  118. 
Country  Clergyman — cited,  40. 
Country  gentlemen,  91. 
Cowper,    William,    Jane's    partiality 

for,  14,  58,  169,  170,  258  ;  quoted — 

on  the  clergy,  37,  40  ;  on  condition 

of  labourers,  74- 
Crabbe,  1 70-1 71,  293. 

Dancing,    121,    123-124,    126-128; 

the  waltz,   121  ;   the  minuet,   126, 

223;  the  quadrille,   127-128,  149; 

the  Boulangeries,  149. 
Deportment,  121. 
Dobson,    Austin,    cited,    186,    189 ; 

quoted,  316. 
Dockwra,  William,  109-111. 
Dress — 

Academic,  239. 

Ball,  125-127. 

Caps,  230-232. 

Cloaks,  240. 

Excesses  in,  229-230, 

Fabrics,  241-242  ;  cost  of,  242-243. 

Feminine  costumes,  73?  239-241. 

Fruit-wearing,  229. 

Headgear,  230-234  ;  feathers,  125, 
232,  234,    283  ;    wigs,  235-236, 

239- 

Hoops,  244. 

Jane  Austen's  lack  of  reference  to, 
in  the  novels,  4  ;  particular  de- 
scription of,  in  a  letter,  243. 

Masculine,  126,  245-247. 

Mamaloucs,  231. 

Night-caps,  232-233. 

Nomenclature  of,  243. 

Pelisses,  241. 

Pockets,  absence  of,  244. 

Scantiness  of,  240. 

Edgeworth,  Maria,  works  of,  87  ; 
Emma  presented  to,  172  ;  Jane 
Austen  compared  with,  181-182. 

Education  of  girls,  29-31. 

Eighteenth-century  period,  scope  of,  3. 

Eliot,  George,  Charlotte  Bronte  and 
Jane  Austen   compared  with,   100, 

lOI. 


330 


INDEX 


Emma — 

Characters   of,    308-310;  children, 

24,  26  ;  clerical  character,  43,  48 ; 

Mrs.  Bennet,  61  ;  Harriet,  139- 

142. 
Date  of,  98. 

Dedication  of,  163,  305,  307. 
Length  of,  80. 
Love  depicted  in,  136. 
Personal  appearance  of  heroine  in, 

57. 
Persuasion  compared  with,  313. 
Pride  and  Prejudice  compared  with, 

99,  308-310. 
Scott's  review  of,  134-135,  310-311. 
Otherwise  mentioned,  69-70,  83-84, 
91,  97,  115,  135. 
Entertainments,  120. 
Evelina^   87,   164,    186;   citcd^   121- 
122. 

Fair  child   Fajnily^    The — cited,    28- 

29. 
Fashion  [see  also  Dress) — 

Bare  necks,  220,  240. 

Excesses  of,  229-230,  240,  244. 

Hair-dressing,  233-236,  239. 
Ferrier,  Miss,  82,  98,  174. 
First    Impressions,     see    Pride    and 

P7'ejudice. 
FHrtation,  119,  129-130. 
Food,  prices  of,  70-71,  77. 
Foreign    affairs,    outline    of,     49-56, 

253-254,    259-260,  270-272,    297- 

298. 
Fox,  George,  247,  259. 
French    Revolution    and     Reign    of 

Terror,  50-53. 
Furniture,  63. 

Gardening,  71-72. 

Garrick,  David,  161,  29 1,  292. 

Gas,  284-285. 

Geography  of  the  period,  6-7. 

George  ill..  King,  94,  235,  305-306. 

Gibson,  Mary  (Mrs.  F.  Austen),  256, 

258. 
Gloucester,  Duke  of,  253. 
Godmersham — 

Acquisition  of,  by  Edward  Knight, 
17,  148. 

Description  of,  251-252. 

Temple  Plantation,  261. 
Goodnestone,  visits  to,  253. 


Gordon,  Duchess  of  (1791),  56. 

Gosse,  Edmund,  on  eighteenth-cen- 
tury literature,  169. 

Grosley,  M.,  quoted  —  on  English 
breakfasts,  66  ;  on  wages,  72  ;  on 
coaching,  157-158 ;  on  King 
George  ill.,  235  ;  on  London, 
280-281,  283-286;  on  the  stage, 
291-292. 

Hair-dressing,  231,233-234;  feathers, 
125,  232,  234,  283  ;  wigs,  235-236, 
239  ;  powder,  237-239. 

Hastings,  Warren,  56. 

Hats  and  bonnets,  234. 

Hatton,  George,  253. 

Highwaymen,  158-160. 

Hill,  Constance,  cited,  46. 

Hill,  Rowland,  109,  ill. 

Housekeeping,  65. 

Inchbald,  Mrs.,  172. 

India,  affairs  of,  55-56. 

Ireland,  union  of,  with  England,  55. 

Jackson,  Eleanor  (Mrs.  H.  Austen), 
18,  288. 

Jane  Austen  and  Her  Contei^-poraries 
— quotod,  92. 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  Jane's  parti- 
ality for,  58,  169  ;  F«nny  Burney 
influenced  by,  164-165  ;  wigs  of, 
236;  otherwise  mentioned,  164, 171. 

Kean,  Charles,  294-295. 

Kemble,  291. 

Kensington  Gardens,  288-289. 

Kent,  Duke  of,  307  ;  letter  of,  to 
Mr.  Creevy,  94. 

Kentish  Country  House,  A — cited, 
182-183. 

Knatchbull,  Lady  (Fanny  Catherine 
Knight)  (niece),  Jane's  attachment 
to,  18,  252,  270,  288  ;  shop- 
ping with,  287  ;  letter  to,  on 
marriage,  etc.,  298-301;  Cas- 
sandra's letters  to,  after  Jane's 
death,  319-321  ;  estimate  of,  260- 
261,  263;  marriage  and  family  of, 
18,  301  ;  mentioned,  19. 

Knight,  Mr.,  presents  Steventon  to 
George  Austen,  16  ;  adopts  Edward 
Austen,  17,  148  ;  mentioned,  59. 

Knight,  Mrs.,  17,  148,  261. 


INDEX 


331 


Knight,  Edward  (brother),  adopted 
by  his  cousin,  17,  148  ;  marriage 
of,  18;  Jane's  visits  to  (1796),  148- 
151;  (1805),  251-252;  (1808), 
260-261;  lawsuit  concerning 
Chawton,  128,  297  ;  family  of, 
252  ;  offers  Chawton  Cottage  to  his 
mother,  266  ;  otherwise  mentioned, 
I33t  255,  287,  293,  303. 

Knight,  Mrs.  E.  (Elizabeth  Bridges), 
133,  148  ;  death  of,  260,  262-263. 

Knight,  Edward  (nephew),  150,  263- 
264,  296. 

Knight,  Fanny  (niece),  see  Knatchbull. 

Knight,  George  (nephew),  263-264, 
296. 

Labourers — 

Condition  of,  73-75. 

Wages  of,  76. 
Lackington  (bookseller),  114. 
Lady  Stisan,  99. 
Landor,  W.  S.,  239. 
Langdale,    Lord,   quoted — on   travel, 

10  ;  on  night-caps,  233. 
Latournelle,  Mrs.,  31. 
Lefroy,  Mrs.  Benjamin  (Anna  Austen) 

(niece),  at    Chawton,   269  ;   novel- 
writing  by,   301-302  ;  marriage  of, 

302 ;  cited^  I3I-I33  5  rnentioned,  17. 
Lefroy,  Tom,  107,  119,  129-130. 
Leigh,    Rev.    Thomas    (grandfather), 

16,  118. 
Leigh-Perrot,  Mrs.,  119,  216. 
Letters  of  Jane  Austen- 
Contemporary  events,  lack  of  refer- 
ence to,  5,  9. 

Dateof  earliest  published,  106,  117. 

Pettiness  in,  214-215. 

Style  of,  107. 
Letters  of  the  period — 

Carriage  of,  1 09-1 11. 

Cost  of  transmission  of,    1 09,    III, 
114,  116. 

Fetching  of,  11 5- 116. 

Form  of,  108. 

Franking  of,  1 1 2- 1 1 5 . 

Importance  of,  as  news-carriers,  6. 

Style  of,  106-107. 
Liston,  293,  294. 
Literature  of  the  period — 

Leading  works  of,  classified,    171- 

174. 
Novels,  see  that  title. 


Lloyd,  Martha,  see  Austen,  Mrs.  F, 
London  of  the  period — 

Coaches  in,  282. 

Dangers  of,  283-284. 

Dirt  of,  281-282. 

Extent  of,  279-280. 

Fogs  of,  285. 

Kensington  Gardens,  288-289. 

Lighting  of,  284-285. 

Paving  in,  280-282. 

Postage  arrangements  in,  1 09- 1 10. 

Press-gang  in,  207. 

Rent,  etc.,  in,  286. 

Shops  in,  286. 

Streets  in,  285. 

Theatres  in,  290-292  ;  private,  193, 

Watchmen  in,  284. 

Love,  135-139^  146-147. 
Lyme,  249-251. 

Macaulay,  Lord,  quoted — on  Jane 
Austen's  art,  84  ;  on  novels  previous 
to  Miss  Burney's,  2>6 ;  on  Miss 
Burney's  environment,  164 ;  on 
her  work,  164-165. 

Mail-coaches,  111-112. 

Ma7isfield  Park — 

Characters   of,   210-21 1,  273-275; 
children,    26-27 ;    clerical    char- 
acters, 43-46  ;  Fanny  Price,  314. 
Date  of,  98. 

Education  described  in,  29-30. 
Minuet  described  in,  126. 
Publication  of,  277. 
Scene  of,  257,  275. 
Second  edition  of,  311. 
Writing  of,  270,  273. 
Otherwise  mentioned,  4,  dl^  82-83, 
104,  145,  256,  310. 

Marriage — 
Jane  Austen's  view  of,   137,   144- 

146. 
Modern  attitude  towards,  139. 

Marriage,  82,  98,  174. 

Matches,  sulphur,  64. 

Mathews,  Charles,  293,  294, 

Meal  times,  65-67,  162. 

Meals,  (i^. 

Mitford,  Miss,  description  of  Jane 
Austen  given  to,  128  ;  list  of  books 
read  by,  168-169  ;  publication  of 
Our  Village  by,  174  ;  quoted — on 
M.  St.  Quintin's,  31-32;  on  the 
waltz,  121  ;  on  morning  calls,  1 62; 


332 


INDEX 


on  Waverley,  173  ;  on  Pride  and 
Prejudice,  181-182  ;  on  Kean,  295  ; 
cited — on  Self  Control,  167 ;  on 
the  Chawton  lawsuit,  297. 

Mitford,  Mrs. ,  recollections  of  Jane 
Austen  by,  128. 

Montagu,  Mrs.,  7. 

Moore,  Mrs.  (Harriet  Bridges),  at 
Godmersham,  261-262 ;  mentioned, 
148,  149,  253. 

Moore,  Sir  J.,  265. 

Moore,  Thomas,  173. 

Morals,  94-95. 

More,  Hannah,  feting  of,  161  ; 
popular  estimate  of,  172  ;  plays 
by,  162-163;  quoted — on  Mrs. 
Montagu,  7  ;  on  children,  27  ;  on 
mail-coaches,  112;  on  abolition  of 
letter-franking,  11 4-1 15  ;  on  dress, 
243  ;  cited — on  fruit-wearing,  229- 
230 ;  Ccelebs  in  Search  of  a  Wife, 
see  that  title. 

Morning  calls,  162. 

Mothers  as  depicted  by  Jane  Austen, 
60-62,  89-90,  188. 

Mourning,  253. 

Murray,  Mr.,  310-312. 

Names,  female,  90. 

Napoleon    Bonaparte,     53-54,    253- 

254,  259-260,  271,  297,  298. 
Nash,  Beau,  220-223,  247-248. 
Navy — 

Bounties,  system  of,  206. 

Captains     accompanied     by     their 
families,  custom  of,  296. 

Corruption  in,  204. 

Hardships  of,  201-205. 

Interest,  abuse  of,  208-209. 

Mutiny  in,  209-210. 

Officers'  careers  in,  201. 

Press  for,  206-207. 

Prize-money  in,  207-208. 

Victories  of,  199-200. 
New     Guide,     The  —  quoted,     224, 

246-247. 
Night-caps,  232-233. 
Northanger  Abbey — 

Ball  described  in,  225-226. 

Biographical  Memoir   prefixed    to, 
58,  90,  194. 

Date  of,  98. 

Estimates  of,  189,  193. 

Local  colour  in,  227. 


Northanger  Abbey — continued. 
Preface  to,  by  Jane  Austen,  194. 
Publication  of,  315. 
Publisher's  neglect  of,  193,  251. 
Scene  and  characters  of,  189-193. 
Otherwise   mentioned,    4,    13,    43, 
47,  82,  88,   119,  124,  145,  224- 
225,  247. 
Novelists  prior  to  Jane  Austen,  85. 
Novels    of   Jane    Austen     {see     also 
separate  titles) — 
Character  the  main  feature  of,  4, 102. 
Characters    of,     91-92  ;     children, 
24-27  ;    mothers,   60-62,  89-90, 
188  ;  male  characters,  186,  2 lo- 
an ;  secondary  characters,  308. 
Comedy  of,  i,  88. 
Humanity  of,  81,  84. 
Humour  of,  81. 
Individuality  of,  323. 
Modernity  of,  5. 
Refinement  of,  94-95' 
Religion,  lack  of  mention  of,  90. 
Scenery  ignored  in,  14. 
Selective  art  exhibited  in,  82,  95, 

311.       • 
Style  of,  97. 
Tabular  list  of,  325. 
Novels  of  the  period — 
Character  of,  85-86,  168. 
Gosse's  classification  of,  169. 
Jane  Austen's  reading  of,  166. 

Omnibuses,  282. 
Our  Village,  174. 

Palmer,  Fanny,  see  Austen,  Mrs.  C. 
Papendick,    Mrs.,  quoted  —  on   plate 

and  services,  69  ;  on  hair-powder, 

238  ;  on  dress,  231,  241. 
Parish  visiting,  73. 
Perrot,  see  Leigh- Perrot. 
Persuasion — 

Characters    in,    210 -211;     Anne 
Elhot,  314. 

Date  of,  98. 

Estimate  of,  313. 

I^ocal  colour  in,  227-228. 

Love  depicted  in,  137-138. 

Publication  of,  315. 

Scene  of,  249-250,  314. 

Writing  of,  312,  314-315- 

Otherwise  mentioned,  24,  62,  90, 
208,  224-225,  296. 


INDEX 


333 


/^^/r^/ (ship  sloop),  198-199. 
Plate  and  services,  68-69. 
Pollock,  Mr.,  cited,  92,  310. 
Porter  Jane,  166. 
Post  office,  development  ot,  109-111, 

115- 
Post-boys,  III. 

Powys,  Mrs.  Philip  Lybbe  (Caroline 
Girle),  117,  119;  quoted — on 
Steventon  inn,  12  ;  on  Holkham, 
67  ;  on  an  evening  party,  127  ;  on 
highway  robbery,  1 60 ;  on  boy 
officers,  209  ;  on  Bath  balls,  223- 
224 ;  on  Southampton,  257  ;  on 
Wedgwood's,  287 ;  on  medical 
treatment,  303. 
Pride  and  Prejudice — 

Characters  of — Mr.    Collins,    35- 

36,  183-184  ;  Elizabeth,  58,  81, 

95-96,      123,      178-180,       182  ; 

Darcy,    1 79-181  ;  Jane  Bingley, 

288. 
Date  of,  98. 

Emma  compared  with,  308-310. 
First  hjipressions  the  original  title 

of,  99,  176. 
Improbability  in,  187. 
Opinions   on  —  by   Sir   W.    Scott, 

182  ;    by    Miss    Mitford,     l8l- 

182  ;  by  Jane  Austen,  184-185. 
Publication  of,  276-277. 
Publisher's  refusal  of,  177. 
Social  caste  in,  92-93. 
Otherwise  mentioned,    58,    81-82, 

124,  128,  145. 
Prince  Regent,  Emma  dedicated  to, 
163,  305,   307  ;   librarian  of,  304- 
305  ;  character  of,  306-307  ;  home 
of,  286. 

RadcHffe,  Mrs.,  88,  172,  189. 
Residences  of  Jane  Austen,  table  of, 

325- 

Roads,  state  of,  75,  116,  151-154. 

Rogers,  Samuel,  Pleasures  of 
Memory  published  by,  173  ; 
omnibus  story  of,  282  ;  quoted — on 
novels,  168 ;  on  hair-powdering, 
239  ;  cited— on  head-dresses,  234  ; 
on  Fox,  247  ;  on  executions,  284. 

Romance,  Scott's  plea  for,  134-135. 

Rowling,  life  at,  148-150. 

St.  Vincent,  Battle  of,  200. 


Scott,  Sir  W.,  review  of  Emvia  by, 

I34-I3S>    310-311;    authorship   of 

Waverley  imputed  to,  173  ;  cited — 

on  Pride  and  Prejudice,  182. 
Seeker,  Archbishop,  cited ,  35,  38. 
Sedan  chairs,  282-283. 
Self  Control,  opinions  on,  167-168. 
Selwyn,  George,  cited,  283-284. 
Sense  atid  Sefisibility — 

Anonymous  issue  of,  163. 

Characters  of — children,  24-26  ; 
Elinor,  136  ;  male  characters, 
186-187  5  minor  characters,  188. 

Date  of,  98. 

Estimate  of,  189. 

Improbability  in,  187. 

Letter  form  of,  185. 

Marriage,  views  on,  depicted  in, 
142-144. 

Origin  of,  78. 

Publication  of,  268,  272-273. 

Revision  of,  270. 

Title  of,  177. 

Otherwise  mentioned,  26,  43,  47, 
61-62,    %z^    89,    91,    135,    136, 
308. 
Servants,  wages  of,  72-73. 
Seward,  Anna,  172. 
Sheridan,    R.    B.,    old   age  of,   164; 

plays  of,  172. 
Sherwood,  Mrs.,  28,  31. 
Shopping,  286-287. 
Siddons,  Mrs.,  292. 
Sloane,  Sir  Hans,  279. 
Social  Eftgland — cited,  238. 
Society  of  the  period,  entree  of,  l6l. 
Southampton,  251,  254. 
Southey,  Robert,  173. 
Stephens,  Miss,  293,  294. 
Steventon  Rectory — 

Description  of,  12. 

Sale  of  furniture  of,  218. 

Situation  of,  12-14. 
Style  of  the  eighteenth  century,   97, 

258. 
Swords,  wearing  of,  124-125,  282. 

Tea,  price  of,  77.  ♦ 

Temeraire,  mutineers  on,  209. 
Theatres,  290-292  ;  private,  293. 
Thompson,     Capt.    Edward,    on   the 

navy,  202-203 
Thomson,  Richard,  quoted,  156. 
Tilsit,  Peace  of,  259. 


334 


INDEX 


Times  of  the  period — 

"  Baby  officers  "  satirised  in,  209. 
Dress    fashions   satirised    in,    125, 

244. 
Form  of,  107-108. 
Kensington  Gardens  exit  advocated 

by,  288-289. 
Press-gang's  activities  described  in, 

206-207. 
Private     theatres     mentioned     in, 

293- 
Tips,  1 50-1 51. 
Trafalgar,  Battle  of,  257. 
Travel — 

Conditions  of,  9-1 1. 
Ladies,  by,  159. 

Methods  of— post,  151,  158-159; 
by  waggon,  153-154;  by  private 
chaise,  154-155  ;  by  coach,  155- 
158. 


United  States  of  America,  secession 
of,  56. 


Vicar  of  Wakefield,  The — cited^  34. 


Walpole,  Horace,  letters  of,  108,  113  ; 

death  of,  171  ;  quoted — on  church- 
going,  39  ;  on  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, 51  ;  on  village  merry-makings, 
75-76;  on  highway  robbery,  160; 
on  Fanny  Burney,  165  ;  on  the 
Duke  of  Clarence,  307  ;  cited — on 
Twickenham,  115;  on  dress,  245. 

Watsons^  7 he,  66,  99,  251  ;  child 
character  in,  26. 

Wedgwood,  287. 

Whateley,  Archbishop,  quoted,  84, 
87,  189. 

Wigs,  235-236,  239. 

Winchester,  'j^,,  317-319,  321. 

Women,  advancement  in  position  of, 

7. 

Wordsworth,  William,  173. 

York,  Duke  of,  post  office  the 
monopoly  of,  109-110;  robbed  by 
highwaymen,  160 ;  character  of, 
306. 

Young,  Arthur,  quoted — on  French 
clergy,  37  ;  on  roads,  152  ;  cited 
— on  food  prices,  70 ;  on  wages, 
73,  76. 


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OF 
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General  Literature 


II 


Knowling  (R.  J.),  M.A.,  Professor  of  New 
Testament  Exegesis  at  King's  College, 
London.     See  Westminster  Commentaries. 

Lamb  (Charles  and  Mary),  THE  WORKS 

OF.  Edited  by  _E.  V.  Lucas.  With 
Numerous  Illustrations.  In  Seven  Volumes. 
Demy  Zvo.     is.  6d.  each. 

THE  LIFE  OF.     See  E.  V.  Lucas. 

THE  ESSAYS  OF  ELIA.  With  over  loo 
Illustrations  by  A.  Garth  Jones,  and  an 
Introduction  by  E.  V.  Lucas.  Demy  Zvo. 
xos.  6d. 

THE  KING  AND  QUEEN  OF  HEARTS  : 
An  1805  Book  for  Children.  Illustrated  by 
William  Mulready.  A  new  edition,  in 
facsimile,  edited  by  E.  V.  Lucas.  \s.  6d. 
See  also  Little  Library. 

Lambert  (F.  A.  H.).     See  The  Little  Guides. 

Lambros  (Professor).    See  Byzantine  Texts. 

Lane-Poole  (Stanley).  A  HISTORY  OF 
EGYPT  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  Fully 
Illustrated.     Crotun  Zvo.     6s. 

Langbridge(F.)M.A.  BALLADS OFTHE 

BRAVE  :  Poems   of  Chivalry,   Enterprise, 
Courage,  and  Constancy.    Second  Edition. 
Cro7vn  Zvo.     2s.  6d. 
Law  (William).     See  Library  of  Devotion. 

Leach  (Henry).  THE  DUKE  OF  DEVON- 
SHIRE.    A  Biography,     With  12  Illustra- 
tions.   DemyZvo.     12s.  6d.  net. 
A  Colonial  Edition  is  also  published. 

Lee  (Captain  L.  Melville).    A  HISTORY 

OF  POLICE  IN  ENGLAND.   Crown'&vo. 
7s.  6d.  net. 
Leigh (Percival).  THE  COMIC  ENGLISH 

GRAMMAR.  Embellished  with  upwards 
of  50  characteristic  Illustrations  by  John 
Leech,    Post  i6mo.     2s.  6d.  net, 

Lewes  (V.B.),  M.A.  AIR  AND  WATER. 
Illustrated.     Croiun  2,vo.     2s.  6d. 

Lisle  (Fortunee  de).   See  Little  Books  on  Art. 

Littlehales  (H.).     See  Antiquary's  Books. 

Lock  (Walter),  D.D.,  Warden  of  Keble 
College.  ST.  PAUL,  THE  MASTER- 
BUILDER.  Second  Edition.  CrownZvo. 
n,s.  6d. 

*rHE  BIBLE  AND  CHRISTIAN  LIFE: 

Being  Addresses  and  Sermons.    Ctoivn 

Zvo.    6s. 
See  also  Leaders  of  Religion  and  Library 

of  Devotion. 
Locke    (John).       See    Methuen's    Standard 

Librarj'. 
Locker  (F.).     See  Little  Library. 
LongfellbW  (H.  W.)    See  Little  Library. 

Lorimer   (George  Horace).     LETTERS 
FROM    A   SELF-MADE   MERCHANT 
TO  HIS  SON.  Thirteenth  Edition.  Cioivn 
Svo.    6s. 
A  Colonial  Edition  Is  also  published. 

OLD  GORGON  GRAHAM.  Second  Edition. 
Crown  %vo,     6s. 
A  Colonial  Edition  is  also  published. 

Lover  (Samuel).  See  Illustrated  Pockat 
Library. 


E,  V.  L.  and  C.  L.  G.    ENGLAND  DAY  BY 

DAY  :   Or,  The  Englishman's  Handbook  to 
Efficiency.   Illustrated  by  George  Morrow. 
Forirth  Edition.    Fcap.  i,to      \s.  net. 
A  burlesque  Year-Book  and  Almanac. 

Lucas(E.V.).  THE  LIFE  OF  CHARLES 
LAMB.  With  numerous  Portraits  and 
Illustrations.  Two  Vols.  DemyZvo.  7.\s. 
net. 

A   WANDERER   IN   HOLLAND.      With 
many  Illustrations,  of  which  20  are  in  Colour 
by  Herbert  Marshall.    Crown  8vo.    6s. 
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LllCian.     See  Classical  Translations. 

Lyde  (L.  W.),  M.A.     See  Commercial  Series. 

Lydon  (Noel  S.).     See  Junior  School  Books. 

Lyttelton  (Hon.  Mrs.  A.).   WOMEN  AND 

THEIR  WORK.     Cro7vn  Zvo.     zs.  6d. 

M.  M.  HOW  TO  DRESS  AND  WHAT  TO 
WEAR.     Crown  8z/^.    js.  net. 

Macaulay(Lord).  CRITICAL  AND  HIS- 
TORICAL ESSAYS.  Edited  by  F.  C.  Mon- 
tague, M.A.  Three  Volumes.  Crown  Zvo. 
z2,s. 

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annotated. 

M'Allen  (J.  E.  B.),  M.A.  See  Commercial 
Series. 

MacCullOCh  (J.  A.).  See  Churchman's 
Library. 

*MacCunn  (Florence).   MARY  STUART. 

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JOS.  6d.  net. 
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McDermott  (E.  R.).     See  Books  on  Business. 
M'Dowall  (A.  S.).     See  Oxford  Biographies. 
Mackay  (Al  M.).     See  Churchman's  Library. 

Magnus  (Laurie),  M.A.    A  PRIMER  OF 

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Mahaffy  (J.  P.),  Litt.D.  A  HISTORY  OF 
THE  EGYPT  OF  THE  PTOLEMIES. 
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Maitland  (F.  W.).  LL. D. ,^  Downing  Professor 
of  the  Laws  of  England  in  the  University  of 
Cambridge.  CANON  LAW  IN  ENG- 
LAND.    RoyalZvo.     'js.6d. 

Maiden  (H.  E.),  M.A.  ENGLISH  RE- 
CORDS. A  Companion  to  the  History  of 
England.     Croivn  Zvo.     -3,5.  6d. 

THE  ENGLISH  CITIZEN  :  HIS  RIGHTS 
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TRANSLATION.  Second  Edition.  Crown 
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12 


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13 


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*Robertson  (C.  Grant)  and  Bartholomew 

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OF  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  Quarto 
y.  6d.  net. 

Robertson   (Sir    G.    S.)    K. C.S.I.       See 

Methuen's  Half-Crown  Library. 
Robinson  (A.  W.),  M.A.     See  Churchman's 
Bible. 

Robinson  (Cecilia).     THE    MINISTRY 

OF  DEACONESSES.  With  an  Introduc 
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Croivn  Zz'o.     35-.  6d. 

Robinson  (F.  S.)   See  Connoisseur's  Library. 

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RodwelKG.),  B.A.  NEW  TESTAMENT 
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a  Preface  by  Walter  Lock,  D.D.,  Warden 
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Roscoe    (E.    S.).       ROBERT     HARLEY, 
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This  is  the  only  life  of  Harley  in  existence. 
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Books. 

Russell    (W.   Clark).     THE  LIFE   OF 
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With     Illustrations     by     F.     Bkangwyn. 
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ST;.  Anselm.     See  Library  of  Devotion. 

St.  Augustine.     See  Library  of  Devotion. 

St.  Gyres  (Viscount).  See  Oxford  Bio- 
graphies. 

'Sakl'(n.  Munro).  REGINALD.  Second 
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Sales  (St.  Francis  de).  See  Library  of 
Devotion. 

Salmon  (A.  L.).  A  POPULAR  GUIDE 
TO  DEVON.  Medium  Zvo.  6d.  net.  See 
also  The  Little  Guides. 


General  Literature 


15 


Sargeaunt  (J.),    m.a.     annals    of 

WESTMINSTER  SCHOOL.  With 
numerous  Illustrations.    Demy  Zvo.    7s.  6d. 

Sathas  (C).     See  Byzantine  Texts. 

Sclimitt  (Jolm).     See  Byzantine  Texts. 

Scott,  (A.  M.).  WINSTON  SPENCER 
CHURCHILL.  With  Portraits  and  Illus- 
trations.    Crown  Zvo.     35.  (id. 

Seeley(H.G.)F.R.S.  DRAGONS  OF  THE 
AIR.   With  many  Illustrations.   Cr.Zvo.   ds. 

SeUs  (V.  P.),  M.A.  THE  MECHANICS 
OF  DAILY  LIFE.  Illustrated.  Cr.  Zvo. 
IS.  6d. 

Selous  (Edmund).     TOMMY   SMITH'S 

ANIMALS.       Illustrated  by  G.  W.    Ord. 
Third  Edition.     Fcap.  8vo.     2s.  6d. 
Settle     (J.      H.).        ANECDOTES      OF 
SOLDIERS,  in  Peace  and  War.    Crown 
Zvo.     3^.  6a'.  net. 
A  Colonial  Edition  is  also  published. 

Shakespeare  (William). 

THE  FOUR  FOLIOS,  1623;  1632;  1664; 
1685.  Each  Four  Guineas  net,  or  a  com- 
plete set,  Tivelve  Guineas  net. 

The  Arden  Shakespeare. 

Denty  Svo.  2s.  6d.  net  each  volume. 
General  Editor,  W.  J.  Craig.  An  Edition 
of  Shakespeare  in  single  Plays.  Edited 
with  a  full  Introduction,  Textual  Notes, 
and  a  Commentary  at  the  foot  of  the  page. 

HAMLET.  Edited  by  Edward  Dowden, 
Litt.D. 

ROMEO  AND  JULIET.  Edited  by  Edward 
Dowden,  Litt.D. 

KING  LEAR.     Edited  by  W.  J.  Craig. 

JULIUS    CAESAR.      Edited  by  M.    Mac- 

MILLAN,  M.A. 

THE    TEMPEST.      Edited    by    Moreton 

Luce. 
OTHELLO.    Edited  by  H.  C  Hart. 
TITUS  ANDRONICUS.     Edited  by  H.  B. 

Baildon. 
CYMBELINE.  Edited  by  Edward  Dowden. 
THE    MERRY    WIVES   OF    WINDSOR. 

Edited  by  H.  C.  Hart. 
A     MIDSUMMER     NIGHT'S     DREAM. 

Edited  by  H.  Cuningham. 
KING  HENRY  V.    Edited  by  H.  A.  Evans. 
ALL'S    WELL     THAT     ENDS     WELL. 

Edited  by  W.  O.  Brigstocke. 
THE     TAMING     OF     THE     SHREW. 

Edited  by  R.  Warwick  Bond. 
TIMON    OF    ATHENS.      Edited    by    K. 

Deighton. 
MEASURE  FOR  MEASURE.      Edited  by 

H.  C.  Hart. 
TWELFTH  NIGHT.     Edited  by  Moreton 

Luce. 
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The  Little  Quarto  Shakespeare.  Edited 

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Notes.       Pott    i67no.       In    40    Volumes. 
Leather,  price  ts.  net  each  volume. 
See  also  Methuen's  Standard  Library. 


Sharp  (A.).    VICTORIAN  POETS.    Crown 

Svo.     2S.  6d. 
Sharp  (Mrs.  E.  A.).     See  Little  Books  on 

Art 
Shediock  (J.    S.).      THE  PIANOFORTE 

SONATA :    Its   Origin  and  Development. 

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SheUey  (Percy  B.).    adonais  ;  an  Elegy 

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Didot,  1821.     is.  net. 

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Sherwell  (Arthur),  M.A.     See  Social  Ques- 
tions Series. 

Shipley    (Mary    E.).     AN     ENGLISH 

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Sichel  (Walter).     DISRAELI :  A  Study 

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SmallWOOd,  (M.   G.).     See  Little  Books  on 

Art. 
Smedley  (F.   E.).      See    Illustrated  Pocket 

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Smith   (Adam),     the   wealth    of 

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*Smith  (H.  Bompas),  M.A.     A  NEW 

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*Smith  (John  Thomas).    A  BOOK  FOR 

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net. 
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Snowden  (Co  E.).    A  BRIEF  SURVEY  OF 

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Books. 


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I        Bradford,     and     SuddardS    (F.)    of   the 
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TAL DESIGN  FOR  WOVEN  FABRICS. 
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Stephenson  (J.),   M.A.     THE   chief 

TRUTHS    OF   THE   CHRISTIAN 
FAITH.     Crozvn  Zvo.     3 J.  6d. 
Sterne  (Laurence).     See  Little  Library. 

Sterry  (W.),  M.A.    annals  of  eton 

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Steuart    (Katherine).      BY    ALLAN 

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Stevenson  (R.  L.).  THE  LETTERS  OF 
ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON  TO 
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Selected  and  Edited,  with  Notes  and  In- 
troductions, by  Sidney  Colvin.  Sixth 
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THE  LIFE  OF  R.  L.  STEVENSON.  See 
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Stevenson  (M.  I.).    FROM  SARANAC 

TO  THE  MARQUESAS.  Being  Letters 
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General  Literature 


17 


StOddart   (Anna   M.).      See    Oxford    Bio. 

graphics. 

Stone  (E.  D.).  M.A.  SELECTIONS 
FROM  THE  ODYSSEY.  Fcap.  Svo. 
IS.  6d. 

Stone  (S.  J.).  POEMS  AND  HYMNS. 
With  a  Memoir  by  F.  G.  Ellerton, 
M.A.     With  Portrait.     Crown  Zvo.     6s. 

Straker  (F, ).     See  Books  on  Business. 

Streane  (A.  W.),  D.D.  See  Churchman's 
Bible. 

Stroud  (H.),  D.Sc,  M.A.  See  Textbooks  of 
Technology. 

Strutt  (Josepll).  THE  SPORTS  AND 
PASTIMES  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF 
ENGLAND.  Illustrated  by  many  engrav- 
ings. Revised  by  J.  Charles  Cox,  LL.D., 
F.S.A.     Quarto.     i\s.  net. 

Stuart  (Capt.  Donald).  THE  STRUGGLE 

FOR  PERSIA.  With  a  Map.  Crown  %vo. 
6s. 
*Sturch(F.).,  Staff  Instructor  to  the  Surrey 
County  Council.  SOLUTIONS  TO  THE 
CITY  AND  GUILDS  QUESTIONS 
IN  MANUAL  INSTRUCTION  DRAW- 
ING.     /m/.  4to. 

^Suckling  (Sir  John),      fragmenta 

AUREA :  a  Collection  of  all  the  Incom- 
parable  Peeces,  written  by.  And  published 
by  a  friend  to  perpetuate  his  memory. 
Printed  by  his  own  copies. 

Printed  for  Humphrey  Moseley,  and 
are  to  be  sold  at  his  shop,  at  the  sign  of  the 
Princes  Arms  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard, 
1646. 

SuddardS  (P.).    See  C.  Stephenson. 

Surtees  (R.  S.).  See  Illustrated  Pocket 
Library. 

Swift  (Jonathan),    the  journal  to 

STELLA.    Edited  by  G.  A.  Aitken.    Cr. 

B7fO.      6s. 

Symes  (J.  E.),  M.A.  THE  FRENCH  RE- 
VOLUTION. Second  Edition.  Cro7vn8vo. 
2s.  6d. 

Syrett  (Netta).     See  Little  Blue  Books. 

Tacitus.  AGRICOLA.  With  Introduction, 
Notes,  Map,  etc.  By  R.  F.  Davis,  M.A. 
Fca^.  Z7I0.     2J. 

GERMANIA.  By  the  same  Editor.  Fcap. 
Zvo.     2S.     See  also  Classical  Translations. 

Tallack  (W.)  HOWARD  LETTERS 
AND  MEMORIES.  Demy  8vo.  xos.  6d. 
net. 

Tauler  (J.).     See  Library  of  Devotion. 

Taunton  (E.  L.).  A  HISTORY  OF  THE 
JESUITS  IN  ENGLAND.  With  Illus- 
trations.    Detny  8vo.     zzs.  net. 

Taylor  (A.  E.).  THE  ELEMENTS  OF 
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net. 

Taylor  (F.  G.),  M.A.    See  Commercial  Series. 

Taylor  (I.  A.).     See  Oxford  Biographies. 

Taylor  (T.  M.),  M.A.,  Fellow  of  Gonville 
and  Caius  College,  Cambridge.  A  CON- 
STITUTIONAL     AND      POLITICAL 


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Tennyson  (Alfred,  Lord).   THE  early 

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M.A.     CrovjnZvo.     6s. 

IN  MEMORIAM,  MAUD,  AND  THE 
PRINCESS.  Edited  by  J.  Churton 
Collins,  M.A.  Crown  8vo.  6s.  See  also 
Little  Library. 

Terry  (C.  S.).     See  Oxford  Biographies. 

Terton  (Alice).  LIGHTS  AND  SHADOWS 

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Thackeray  (W.  M.).     See  Little  Library. 
Theobald  (F.  W.),  M.A.    INSECT  LIFE. 

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Thompson  (A.  H.).     See  The  Little  Guides. 
Tileston(MaryW.).  DAILY  STRENGTH 

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in  superior  binding  6s. 
Tompkins   (H.  W.),   F.R.H.S.      See   The 

Little  Guides. 

Townley  (Lady  Susan).    MY  CHINESE 

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net. 
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Wade  (G.  W.),  D.D.    OLD  TESTAMENT 

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A3 


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by  E.  C.  S.  Gibson, 

Edited  by  J.  W. 

Edited  by  B.  W. 


On  the  Love  of  God.      By  St.   Francis  de 

Sales.     Edited  by  W.  J.  Knox-Little,  M.A. 
A    Manual    of    Consolation    from    the 

Saints  and  Fathers.     Edited  by  J.  H. 

Burn,  B.D. 
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M.A, 
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C.  C.  J.  Webb,  M.A. 
Grace  Abounding,  ByJohnBunyan,  Edited 

by  S.  C.  Freer,  MA. 
Bishop  Wilson's  Sacra  Privata.      Edited 

by  A.  E.  Burn,  B.D. 
Lyra    Sacra  :     A    Book    of   Sacred    Verse. 

Edited  by  H.  C.  Beeching,  M.A.,  Canon  of 

Westminster. 
A  Day  Book  from  the  Saints  and  Fathers. 

Edited  by  J.  H.  Burn,  B.D. 
Heavenly  Wisdom.      A  Selection  from  the 

English  Mystics.     Edited  by  E.  C.  Gregory. 
Light,  Life,  and  Love.    A  Selection  from  the 

German  Mystics.     Edited  by  W.  R.  Inge, 

M.A, 
*The  Devout  Life  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales. 

Translated  and  Edited  by  T.  Barns,  M.A. 


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Collingwood,  M.A.  With  Portraits.  Fourth 

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Lyrics.     Arranged  by  A.  T.  Quiller  Couch. 

Second  Edition. 
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and  Plan. 


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[Continued. 


General  Literature 


25 


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M.A.  ' 

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Charles  Simeon.     By  H.  C.  G.  Moule  D  D 
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Thomas  Chalmers.     By  Mrs.  Oliphant. 
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Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


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General  Literature 


27 


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DICE.     Edited  by  E.   V.   Lucas.     Two 

Volumes. 
NORTHANGER  ABBEY.    Edited  by  E.  V. 

Lucas. 
Bacon  (Francis).      THE    ESSAYS    OF 

LORD    BACON.       Edited    by    Edward 

Wright. 
Barham  (R.  H.).      THE   INGOLDSBY 

LEGENDS.     Edited    by    J.    B.    Atlay. 

Two  Volumes. 

Barnett  (Mrs.  P.  A.).    A  LITTLE  BOOK 

OF  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Beckford  (WUliam).     THE  HISTORY 

OF  THE  CALIPH  VATHEK.  Edited 
by  E.  Denison  Ross. 

Blake  (WiUiam).   SELECTIONS  FROM 

WILLIAM  BLAKE.  Edited  by  M. 
Perugini. 

Borrow  (George).    LAVENGRO.    Edited 

by  F.  HiNDES  Groome.     Two  Volumes. 
THE    ROMANY    RYE.      Edited  by  John 

Sampson. 

Browning  (Robert).    SELECTIONS 

FROM     THE    EARLY     POEMS     OF 

ROBERT  BROWNING.     Edited  by  W. 

Hall  Griffin,  M.A. 
Canning  (George).  SELECTIONS  FROM 

THE    ANTI-JACOBIN :    with   George 

Canning's  additional  Poems.     Edited  by 

Lloyd  Sanders. 
Cowley  (Abraham).    THE  ESSAYS  OF 

ABRAHAM  COWLEY.    Edited  by  H.  C 

Minchin. 

Crabbe  (George).    SELECTIONS  FROM 

GEORGE    CRABBE.      Edited  by  A.  C. 
Deane. 
Craik  (Mrs.).    JOHN   HALIFAX, 
GENTLEMAN.      Edited  by  Anne 
Matheson.     Two  Volumes. 

Crawshaw  (Richard).  THE  ENGLISH 
POEMS  OF  RICHARD  CRAWSHAW. 
Edited  by  Edward  Hutton. 

Dante  (Alighieri).   THE  INFERNO  OF 

DANTE.  Translated  by  H.  F.  Cary. 
Edited  by  Paget  Toynbee,  M.A.,  D.Litt. 

THE  PURGATORIO  OF  DANTE.  Trans- 
lated by  H.  F.  Cary.  Edited  by  Paget 
Toynbee,  M.A.,  D.Litt. 

THE  PARADISO  OF  DANTE.  Trans- 
lated by  H.  F.  Cary.  Edited  by  Paget 
Toynbee,  M.A.,  D.Litt. 

Darley  (George).    SELECTIONS  FROM 

THE  POEMS  OF  GEORGE  DARLEY. 

Edited  by  R.  A.  Streatfeild. 
Deane  (A.  C).     A  LITTLE  BOOK  OF 

LIGHT  VERSE. 
Dickens  (Charles).  CHRISTMAS  BOOKS. 

Two  Volumes. 


Ferrier  (Susan).    MARRIAGE.    Edited 

by     A      Goodrich  -  Freer     and     Lord 

Iddesleigh.     Two  Volumes. 
THE  INHERITANCE.     Two  Volumes. 
Gaskell  (Mrs.).    CRANFORD.     Edited  by 

E.  V.  Lucas. 
Hawthorne  (Nathaniel).  THE  SCARLET 

LETTER.     Edited  by  Percy  Dearmer. 

Henderson  (T.  F.).    A  LITTLE  BOOK 

OF  SCOTTISH  VERSE. 

Keats  (John).  POEMS.  With  an  Intro- 
duction by  L.  Binyon,  and  Notes  by  J. 
Masefield. 

Kinglake  (A.  W.).  EOTHEN.  With  an 
Introduction  and  Notes. 

Lamb  (Charles).     ELIA,    AND    THE 

LAST  ESSAYS   OF   ELIA.     Edited   by 

E.  V.  Lucas. 
Locker  (F.).    LONDON  LYRICS     Edited 

by  A.  D.  Godley,  M.A.     A  reprint  of  the 

First  Edition. 
Longfellow  (H.  W.).    SELECTIONS 

FROM     LONGFELLOW.        Edited    by 

L.  M.  Faithfull. 

Marvell  (Andrew).     THE  POEMS  OF 

ANDREW    MARVELL.     Edited  by  E. 

Milton  (John).     THE  MINOR  POEMS 

OF  JOHN  MILTON.     Edited  by  H.  C. 

Beeching,  M.A.,  Canon  of  Westminster. 
Moir(D.  M).     MANSIEWAUCH.    Edited 

by  F.  Henderson. 
Nichols  (J.  B.  B.).  A  LITTLE  BOOK  OF 

ENGLISH  SONNETS. 
Rochefoucauld  (La).  THE  MAXIMS  OF 

LA     ROCHEFOUCAULD.       Translated 
by  Dean  Stanhope.      Edited  by  G.   H. 
Powell. 
Smith  (Horace  and  James),  rejected 

ADDRESSES.    Edited  by  A.  D.  Godley, 
M.A. 

Sterne  (Laurence).    A  SENTIMENTAL 

JOURNEY.     Edited  by  H.  W.  Paul. 
Tennyson  (Alfred,  Lord.).    THE  EARLY 

POEMS  OF  ALFRED,  LORD  TENNY- 

SON.     Edited  by  J.  Churton  Collins, 

M.A. 
IN    MEMORIAM.       Edited  by  H.   C. 

Beeching,  M.A. 
THE  PRINCESS.      Edited  by  Elizabeth 

Wordsworth. 
MAUD.  Edited  by  Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 

Thackeray (W. M.).    VANITY  FAIR. 

Edited  by  S.  Gwynn.     Three  Volumes, 
PENDENNIS.     Edited  by  S.  Gwynn. 

Three  Volumes. 
ESMOND.     Edited  by  S.  Gwynn. 
CHRISTMAS  BOOKS.  EditedbyS.  Gwynn. 
Vaughan  (Henry).     THE   POEMS   OF 

HENRY  VAUGHAN.  Edited  by  Edward 

Hutton. 

\Contivued. 


28 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


The  Little  Library — continued. 

Walton    (Izaak).      THE     COMPLEAT 

ANGLER.     Edited  by  J.  Buchan. 


Wordsworth  (W.).   SELECTIONS  FROM 

WORDSWORTH.      Edited    by  Nowell 

C.  Smith. 
Wordsworth  (W.)  and  Coleridge  (S.  T.). 

LYRICAL  BALLADS.  Edited  by  George 

Sampson. 


Waterhouse  (Mrs.  Alfred).    A  LITTLE 

BOOK  OF  LIFE  AND  DEATH.  Edited 
by.    Seventh  Edition. 

Miniature  Library,  Methuen's 

Reprints  in  miniature  of  a  few  interesting  books  which  have  qualities  of 
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Dante  Alighieri.   By  Paget  Toynbee,  M.A., 

D.Litt.      With    I  a    Illustrations.      Second 

Edition. 
Savonarola.     By  E.  L.  S.  Horsburgh,  M.A. 

With  12  Illustrations.     Second  Edition. 
John  Howard.     By  E.  C.  S.  Gibson,  D.D., 

Vicar  of  Leeds.     With  12  Illustrations. 
Tennyson.    By  A.  C.  Benson,  M.A.    With 

9  Illustrations. 
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29 


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of  Verona  ;  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor ; 

Measure  for  Measure ;  The  Comedy  of 

Errors. 
Vol.  II. — Much  Ado  About  Nothing ;  Love's 

Labour 's   Lost ;    A   Midsummer  Night's 

Dream  ;  The  Merchant  of  Venice ;  As  You 

Like  It. 
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Well  that  Ends  Well;  Twelfth  Night ;  The 

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The  Tragedy  of  King  Richard  the  Second  ; 

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First  Part  of  King  Henry  vi.  ;  'The  Second 
Part  of  King  Henry  vi. 
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The  Tragedy  of  King  Richard  in. ;  The 
Famous    History  of  the    Life    of  King 
Henry  viii. 
The  Pii  grim's  Progress.     By  John  Bunyan. 
The  Novels  of  Jane  Austen.    In  5  volumes. 

Vol.  i. — Sense  and  Sensibility. 
The  English  Works  of  Francis  Bacon, 
Lord  Verulam. 
Vol.  I. — Essays  and  Counsels  and  the  New 
Atlantis. 
The  Poems  andPlays  of  Oliver  Goldsmith. 
On  the  Imitation  of  Christ.    By  Thomas 
^  Kempis. 

XContinned, 


30 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


Methuen's  Standard  Library — continued. 

The  Works  of  Ben  Jonson.     In  about  12 
volumes. 
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in  His  Humour ;  Every  Man  out  of  His 
Humour. 
*Vol.  II. — Cynthia's  Revels  ;  The  Poetaster. 
The  Prose  Works  of  John  Milton. 

*VoL.  I. — Eikonoklastes  and  The  Tenure  of 
Kings  and  Magistrates. 
Select  Works  of  Edmund  Burke. 

Vol.  I.  — Reflectionson  the  French  Revolution. 
The  Works  of  Henry  Fielding. 

Vol.  I. — Tom  Jones.    (Treble  Volume.) 
The  Poems  of  Thomas  Chatterton.    In  2 
volumes. 
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*The  Life  of  Nelson.     By  Robert  Southey. 
The   Meditations  of   Marcus    Aurelius. 

Translated  by  R.  Graves. 
The  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of 
the  Roman  Empire.     By  Edward  Gibbon. 
In  7  volumes. 

The  Notes  have   been  revised  by  J.    B. 
Bury,  Litt.D. 
The  Plays  of  Christopher  Marlowe. 

*Vol.  I.— Tamburlane  the  Great;  The  Tragi- 
cal History  of  Doctor  Faustus. 
*The  Natural  History  and  Antiquities  of 
Selborne.    By  Gilbert  White. 


The  Poems  of  Percy  Bvsshe  Shelley.     In 
4  volumes. 
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The  Revolt  of  Islam,  etc. 
*Vol.  n. — Prometheus  Unbound  ;  The  Cenci ; 
The  Masque  of  Anarchy  ;  Peter  Bell  the 
Third  ;  Ode  to  Liberty ;  The  Witch  of 
Atlas  ;  Ode  to  Naples ;  CEdipus  Tyrannus. 
The  text  has  been  revised  by  C.  D.  Locock. 
*The    Little    Flowers    of    St.    Francis. 

Translated  by  W,  Hey  wood. 
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The  Poems  of  John  Milton.     In  2  volumes. 
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*Vol.  II. — Miscellaneous  Poems  and  Paradise 
Regained. 
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*Vol.  I. — Utopia  and  Poems. 
*Thb  Analogy  of  Religion,  Natural  and 

Revealed.    By  Joseph  Butler,  D.D. 
*The  Plays  of  Philip  Massinger. 

Vol.  1.— The  Duke  of  Milan  ;  The   Bond- 
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*The  Poems  of  John  Keats 
*The  Republic  of  Plato. 
Taylor  and  Sydenham. 


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Translated  by 


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England.      Edited  by  E.   C.   S.   Gibson,         Religion.       By    F.    B.    Jevons,    M.A., 

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Velutnt.     Demy  Zvo,     yis.  6d,  j       lof.  6d. 

[Continued. 


General  Literature 


31 


Handbooks  of  Theology — continued. 

The  Doctrine  of  the  Incarnation.    By  R. 

L.    Ottley,    D.D.      Second    and   Cheaper 

Edition.     Demy  Zvo.     lis.  6d. 
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10s.  6d. 


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The  Book  of  Job,  Edited  by  E.  C.  S.  Gibson, 
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The  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Edited  by  R. 
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Goudge,  M.A.     Demy  8vo.    6s. 

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32 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


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ONE :   A  Page  of  the  French  Revolution. 
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The  tender  reverence  of  the  treatment 
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GOD'S  GOOD  MAN  :  A  SIMPLE  LOVE 
STORY.    X24th  Thousand,    CrownSvo.   6s. 

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6s. 
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Crown  Svo.    6s. 


Fiction 


33 


PEGGY  OF  THE  BARTONS.     Sixth  Edit. 

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34 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


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Fiction 


35 


MRS.  PETER  HOWARD.    Crtnvn  Zvo.    6s. 
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of  Morrice  Buckler,'  'Miranda  of  the  Bal- 
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the    Rye.'       HONEY.      Fourth    Edition. 

Cro7vn  Zvo.     6s. 
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Messenger.'      VIVIEN.       Third  Edition. 

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RESURGAM.  _  Cr(rwn  Zvo.    6s. 
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Meredith    (EUis).      HEART    OF    MY 

HEART.     Crown  Bvo.    6s. 
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Mitford  (Bertram).   THE  SIGN  OF  THE 

SPIDER.       Illustrated.       Sijcth    Edition. 

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IN    -THE   WHIRL    OF    THE    RISING. 

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Morrison  (Arthur).     TALES  OF  MEAN 

STREETS.  S i J): th Edition.  CrownZvo.  6s. 

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ous i.lso  ;  without  humour  it  would  not  make 
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A  CHILD  OF  THE  JAGO.  Fourth  Edition. 
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36 


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Fiction 


37 


Weyman  rStanley),  Author  of '  A  Gentleman 

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MINE. 
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OF  CURGENVEN. 
DOMITIA. 
THE  FROBISHERS. 
Barlow  (Jane).     Author  of  'Irish   Idylls. 

FROM  THE  EAST  UNTO  THE  WEST 
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THE  FOUNDING  OF  FORTUNES. 
Earr  (Robert).    THE  VICTORS. 
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INGS. 
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CAPSINA. 

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TRYST. 

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THE  LAND. 
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RING. 
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JoI/tOPP^'^'''^''  GALLEON. 


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^(DF^r?j|jOE?.^'-      ^"^    DOCTOR 
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o  J.  X  Y  • 

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RAIN. 

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Findlater  (Mary).    OVER  THE  HILLS. 
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Gallon  (Tom).    RICKERBY'S  FOLLY 
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HAVE  HAPPENED. 

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GOSS  (C.  F.).     THE  REDEMPTION  OF 

DAVID  CORSON. 
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Hamilton  (Lord Ernest),  mary  hamil. 

TON. 


38 


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Harrison  (Mrs.  Burton).    A  PRINCESS- 

OF  THE  HILLS.     Illustrated. 
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VERER. 

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Browne,     zs. 

The  Snowball,  and  Sultanetta.  Illus- 
trated in  Colour  by  Frank  Adams.     2S. 

The  Vicomte  de  Bragelonne.  Illustrated 
in  Colour  by  Frank  Adams.    3^.  6d. 

*Crop-Eared  Jacquot  ;  Jane  ;  Etc.  Illus- 
trated in  Colour  by  Gordon  Browne,    is.  6d. 

The  Castle  of  Eppstein.  Illustrated  in 
Colour  by  Stewart  Orr.     is.  td. 

Act6.  Illustrated  in  Colour  by  Gordon 
Browne,     is.  6d. 

*Cecile  ;  OR,  The  Wedding  Gown.  Illus- 
trated in  Colour  by  D.  Murray  Smith. 
is.  td. 

*The  Adventures  of  Captain  Pamphile. 
Illustrated  in  Colour  by  Frank  Adams. 
IS.  6d. 

*Fernande.  Illustrated  in  Colour  by  Munro 
Orr.     2s. 

*The  Black  Tulip.  Illustrated  in  Colour  by 
A.  Orr.     IS.  td. 


Methuen's  Sixpenny  Books 


Austen   (Jane).      PRIDE   AND   PRE- 
JUDICE. 
Baden-Powell  (Major-General  R.  S.  S.). 

THE  DOWNFALL  OF  PREMPEH. 
Bagot  (Richard).  A  ROMAN  MYSTERY. 
Balfour  (Andrew).      BY   STROKE  OF 

SWORD. 
Baring-Gould  (S.).    FURZE  BLOOM. 
CHEAP  JACK  ZITA. 
KITTY  ALONE. 
URITH. 

THE  BROOM  SQUIRE. 
IN  THE  ROAR  OF  THE  SEA. 
NOfiMI. 

A  BOOK  OF  FAIRY  TALES.    Illustrated. 
LITTLE  TUPENNY. 
THE  FROBISHERS. 
*WINEFRED. 

Barr    (Robert).      JENNIE     BAXTER, 

JOURNALIST. 
IN  THE  MIDST  OF  ALARMS. 
THE  COUNTESS  TEKLA. 
THE  MUTABLE  MANY. 
Benson  (E.  F.).    DODO. 
BloundeUe-Burton  (J.).     ACROSS  THE 

SALT  SEAS. 

Bronte  (Charlotte).    SHIRLEY. 
BrowneU   (C.   L.).       THE    HEART    OF 
JAPAN. 


Caffyn  (Mrs.),  '  Iota.'    ANNE  MAULE 

VERFR 

Clifford  (Mrs.  W.  K.).     A    FLASH  OF 

SUMMER. 
MRS.  KEITH'S  CRIME. 

Connell  (F.  Norreys).     THE  NIGGER 

KNIGHTS. 
*Cooper  (E.  H.).    A  FOOL'S  YEAR. 
"     "       "  A    BUSINESS    IN 


PEGGY  OF  THE 


JOHANNA. 
THE    VISION 


OF 


Corbett    (Julian). 
GREAT  WATERS. 

Croker  (Mrs.  B.  M.). 

BARTONS. 
A  STATE  SECRET. 
ANGEL. 
Dante  (Alighieri). 

DANTE  (GARY). 

Doyle  (A.  Conan).    ROUND  THE  RED 

LAMP. 

Duncan  (Sarah  Jeannette).  A  VOYAGE 

OF  CONSOLATION. 
THOSE  DELIGHTFUL  AMERICANS. 
Eliot  (George).      THE  MILL  ON  THE 

FLOSS. 

Findlater  (Jane  H.).     THE    GREEN 

GRAVES  OF  BALGOWRIE. 

Gallon  (Tom).   rickerby'S  folly. 
Gaskell  (Mrs.).    CRANFORD. 
MARY  BARTON. 
NORTH  AND  SOUTH. 


40 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


Gerard  (Dorotliea).  holy  matri- 
mony. 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  LONDON. 
Gissiiig(George).  THE  TOWN  TRAVEL- 

LER. 
THE  CROWN  OF  LIFE.  ,  ^,  ^  ^^  ^ 

Glanville   (Ernest).      THE    INCA'S 

TREASURE. 
THE  KLOOF  BRIDE. 
Gleig  (Charles).    HUNTER'S  CRUISE. 
Giimm    (The    Brothers).      GRIMM'S 

FAIRY  TALES.     Illustrated. 

Hope  (Anthony).    A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

A  CHANGE  OF  AIR. 

THE  CHRONICLES  OF  COUNT 
ANTONIO. 

PHROSO. 

THE  DOLLY  DIALOGUES. 

Homung  (E.  W.).  DEAD  MEN  TELL 
NO  TALES. 

Ingraham  (J.  H.);  THE  THRONE  OF 
DAVID 

Le  Queux'(W.).  THE  HUNCHBACK  OF 
WESTMINSTER.  ^„,,^    „,o 

Linton  (E.  Lynn).  THE  TRUE  HIS- 
TORY OF  JOSHUA  DAVIDSON. 

LvalKEdna).    DERRICK  VAUGHAN. 

Malet  (Lucas),   the  carissima. 

A  COUNSEL  OF  PERFECTION. 
Mann    (Mrs.    M.    E.)     MRS.     PETER 

HOWARD. 
A  LOST  ESTATE. 
THE  CEDAR  STAR. 
Marchmont  (A.  W.) 

LEY'S  SECRET. 
A  MOMENT'S  ERROR. 

Marryat  (Captain).   PETER  SIMPLE. 

"[ACOB  FAITHFUL. 

Marsh  (Richard).  THE  TWICKENHAM 

PEERAGE. 
THE  GODDESS. 
THE  TOSS 

Mason  (A.  E.  W.).    CLEMENTINA. 
Mathers  (Helen).    HONEY. 
GRIFF  OF  GRIFFITHSCOURT. 
SAM'S  SWEETHEART. 
Meade  (Mrs.  L.  T.).    DRIFT. 
Mitfo?d  (Bertram).  THE  SIGN  OF  THE 

SPIDER. 

Montr6aor(F.F.).   THE  ALIEN. 


MISER    HOAD- 


Moore  (Arthur).  THE  GAY  DECEIVERS 
Morrison  (Arthur).     THE    HOLE  IN 

THE  WALL. 
Nesbit  (E.).    THE  RED  HOUSE. 
Norris  (W.  E.).    HIS  GRACE. 
GILES  INGILBY. 
THE  CREDIT  OF  THE  COUNTY. 
LORD  LEONARD, 
MATTHEW  AUSTIN. 
CLARISSA  FURIOSA.  „,„.,,, 

Oliphant  (Mrs.).    THE  LADY'S  WALK. 
SIR  ROBERT'S  FORTUNE. 

Oppenheim  (E.  Phillips).    MASTER  OF 

MEN.  _„^ 

Parker  (Gilbert).   THE  POMP  OF  the 

LAVILETTES. 
when  VALMOND  CAME  TO  PONTIAC. 
THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  SWORD. 

Pemberton  (Max).    THE  FOOTSTEPS 

OF  A  THRONE. 
I  CROWN  THEE  KING. 
Phillpotts  (Eden).    THE  HUMAN  BOY. 
CHILDREN  OF  THE  MIST.  _^^,^^ 
Ridge  (W.  Pett).  A  SON  OF  THE  STATE. 
LOST  PROPERTY. 
GEORGE  AND  THE  GENERAL. 
Russell  (W.  Clarll).    A  MARRIAGE  AT 

SEA. 
ABANDONED. 

MY  DANISH  SWEETHEART. 
Sergeant  (Adeline),    THE  MASTER  OF 

BEECHWOOD. 
BARBARA'S  MONEY. 
THE  YELLOW  DIAMOND.  ^„^^^ 

Surtees   (R.   S.).       HANDLEY   CROSS. 

MR.  "'sponge's     SPORTING     TOUR. 

Illustrated. 
ASK  MAMMA.    Illustrated. 

Valentine  (Major  E.  S.).    VELDT  AND 

LAAGER. 
Walford(Mrs.L.B.)    MR.  SMITH. 

THE  BABY'S  GRANDMOTHER. 

Wallace  (General  Lew).    BEN-HUR. 

THE  FAIR  GOD. 

Watson  (H.  B.  Marriot).    THE  ADVEN- 
TURERS. 
Weekes  (A.  B.).    PRISONERS  OF  WAR. 
WeUs(H.G.).  -THE  STOLEN  BACILLUS. 


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